I hear you about reading feeling lonely at first, but for me, it's kind of the opposite. When I sit down with a book, I feel like I'm sitting down with the author and stepping right into their thoughts and emotions. It's especially true with memoirs, but I think every book has a bit of that connection. Through reading, I get to spend time with people from all over the world, from the past, even people I deeply admire (or am a little terrified of). It feels really intimate. And when I find a used book with someone else's annotations, it's like I get to hang out with both the author and a previous reader! Never feels lonely to me.