My husband does not read books, and has no interest in reading, and that's totally okay. I love reading books and it's my preferred way to spend my down time. That's also totally okay. However, it makes it hard to spend time doing what I like, and also spend time with my husband.
Basically, he's an extrovert who likes conversations. I am an introvert who likes to be left alone with my thoughts. In the past, our work schedules staggered a bit more so I had time to myself, and time with my husband. Now, our schedules are more aligned. On one hand, more time with my husband, yay, but on the other hand, less alone time for me.
We've tried doing the whole "being in the room together but doing separate things" thing but it doesn't really work for us because if I'm in the room, he's going to end up talking to me. I'm not complaining that my husband likes to talk to me, just saying that doing separate things together doesn't work for us.
He suggested we take turns reading out loud to each other and that was fun the one time we did it, especially since he can be pretty comedic. But at the end of the day, he just doesn't enjoy reading and reading out loud just feels like middle school English class after awhile.
He tries by asking me questions about what I'm reading but if you've ever had a conversation about a book with someone who doesn't read, you know how it goes. Sometimes we do "book clubs" where he watches the movie, I read the book, we discuss.
I want to stress that this isn't me complaining about my husband. He's not a needy person and if I say, "Hey, tonight, I just want to be left alone" he totally gets it and is fine with it (I just feel a bit guilty about it). I was just wondering how other people balance spending time with someone they love while also making time for a solitary hobby, like reading.
by Anxious-Fun8829