Beth Thames: Reading books makes us more human and more humble

This is an opinion column

Here’s a question for Alabama readers, those with a book by their bed and another in their briefcase or backpack: Book clubs are gone, holdovers from a bygone era when people read more and send fewer e-mails, when 24-hour TV shows didn’t pop up in every family room, when checking out books from the library was as common as going to the supermarket or filling up the gas tank?