If you are like us, you like to read books. We thought that we might list a few of the books we have read lately and tell you a little about them. Some were good, some were average and some were absolutely fantastic. This is Part III of what will probably be a many part series!
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution – Richard Dawkins
This book opens by telling us that 40% of the American public, and a frightening and growing number of misguided people in the UK, believe in Creation “science” and that the world was made 6000 years ago. This would be hysterically funny if it was not true. These are the same nutters who want to make the world in their image. Richard Dawkins, a biologist by trade, is terrified by the thought that people still deny evolution as a scientific fact. He has endeavoured to ensure that all of evidence for evolution is set out in one clear volume, which anyone can pick up and understand. His style is light and enjoyable and the book puts to shame anyone who thinks Dinosaurs walked with man in the recent past. Books like this should be required reading for those in science classes. If people want to learn about the religious views of the world’s formation, they should join a theology class. This book is an insightful and thoroughly interesting read and makes you thankful to live in a country where evolution is taught in science classes and mythology is left to the theologians.
Office Wit & Wisdom – Tracey Turner
This is an often hysterical analysis of life in the office environment, described in this book as “unmitigatedly ghastly”. It is a clever and funny book which takes joy in completely pulling and putting down the bastion of modern society: the modern office. From creating a CV and being interviewed for a job, right through to office politics, the meaningless nature of job titles, open plan office hell, IT departments and a handy ID guide to ‘Office Types’, if you have ever worked in an office, this is bound to make you chuckle, groan and nod in agreement. A lighthearted book that will bring hours of amusement in the office (and may also be a good and pointed present for your boss next Christmas!).
Eats, Shoots and Leaves, The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation – Lynne Truss
Though this is another amusing book, written in a clever and witty manner by possibly the most anal person on the planet, it is also actually a very useful book if you struggle with common grammar. Most of Gen X and some of Gen Y went through the Australian school system when the government, in all of its wisdom, decided to take grammar out of the school curriculum due to the misguided belief that kids would just pick it up as they went (yes, whilst they just pick up a second language and a trade skill along the way too!). Unfortunately, these same kids are now near-constant proof that that belief was wrong; there is an entire generation of adults still struggling to know when to use an apostrophe, the difference between a colon and s a semi-colon and what a verb even is (this gets even more confused when ridiculous modern management terms such as “chunk it down” are introduced. You can’t ‘chunk’ something down! Chunk is not a verb, you can’t do “chunk”). So, into the realm of dry, over processed and way too lengthy grammar how-to books comes this gem – a funny, easy to read and, most importantly, easy to understand and apply book about modern grammar. If they made this a textbook at schools, I’m sure literacy rates would multiple – it has become an office bible!
