What are you reading?

Helen Gallagher, Glenview, Ill.

"The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains," by Nicholas Carr. Remember the 2008 Atlantic article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The author is back with "The Shallows," where he elaborates on the changes the Internet bring to our lives. Along the way, in his highly entertaining book he reminds us of how the great thinkers of past centuries did just fine without a hyperlinked database of all the world's knowledge at hand. In the 21st century, we are facing the consequences of our distracted and scattered society. "The Shallows" presents a thoughtful, if frightening, look at what we're doing to ourselves.