Reading a lot was one of the few things I wasn't criticized for. That was seen as as a good thing. And it kept me quiet in a house full of very noisy brothers. And both sides of the family come from a long line of teachers, so doing well in school was expected.
However, I'd go off to my room to read. And that was seen as bad, because I isolated myself from the rest of the family.
But with 5 brothers who were allowed to tease me endlessly and mercilessly until it reached the point of bullying, why on earth would I want to spend time with them? And if I complained, I was told I was "too sensitive."
And we lived in small houses mostly, with the TV in the living room, and no other room to go to except the dining room or kitchen. And the TV was always playing some sports thing--baseball, football, basketball, hockey--that I was not interested in. And it's hard to read with the noise of the TV and shouts of the TV viewers for every score or fumble or whatever.
My mother once threatened me with boarding school if I didn't come out of my room more. It was truly the worst punishment she could think of--being cut off from your family like that. Sadly, what she didn't realize was that I would have loved boarding school and not being around my brothers all the time. I lived in hopes for a few months that I would get to go away to school, but it had been an idle threat and never came to pass.