The Shallows is a very, very important book.

It examines the changes in the neural pathways that the web takes us through, and lays out the risks for those of us who are learning to think the way the web does. It is extremely well researched and thorough; footnotes are helpful and abundant.

It's "funny" that it takes some concentration to get through the book. When I first read the author's story in the NY Times, "Is Google Making Us Stupid", from which this book was based, I saw clearly the changes in my own attention span and attention to detail. I started reading poetry and novels again, just to reprogram my mind. I see my own tendency toward Internet addiction as well, checking email frequently, surfing the web while watching movies with the family, reading news when commuting and listening to music... and I see that tendency much more deeply in my younger relatives who literally text each other when sitting on the couch next to each other and speak in txt shorthand.

I recently finished a doctoral dissertation in spiritual formation and social networks, and I really wish I'd have been able to include this book in the chapter I wrote on the shift to Internet based social networking. It's not an academic work, but it's an important one that I recommend highly to anybody who wants to think clearly.