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Neil Usher – The Elemental Workplace | Review

Title: The Elemental Workplace

Author: Neil Usher

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 218

Rating: 3.5/5

Neil Usher – The Elemental Workplace

I picked up this book because I was being paid by a client to write in-depth book reviews and I needed to read the book to be able to do that. Still, it’s the kind of book that I like reading from time to time, and I thought that Usher had a lot to say on the subject of how we arrange our workplaces. I’m a big fan of efficiency, and so it pleased me to see Usher addressing that.

At the same time, though, I don’t really need to worry too much about my workplace because I work from home. True, there are a few concepts that I’m going to take from this and apply to my house, and there’s still more that I’d do if I had space to have an actual office in the place.

All in all, I think this is a pretty good book if you want to improve your workplace, and while it isn’t exactly revolutionary, it is interesting. I also liked the way that Usher sprinkled in stories and statistics here and there to help to make the book more interesting. You can tell that he’s also a performance poet.

Neil Usher

Click here to buy The Elemental Workplace.

Angela Saini – Inferior | Review

Title: Inferior

Author: Angela Saini

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 280

Rating: 4*/5

Angela Saini – Inferior

Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.

Inferior is an interesting book, because it uses scientific studies, statistics and data to question the way that women have been portrayed throughout the years by scientific literature. Now, I’m not a woman, but I do believe in science, and Saini’s book opens your eyes to the fact that science isn’t always impartial.

It’s a feminist book, then, but one that can be enjoyed whatever you call yourself. And it’s also non-fiction, which means that it’ll help to broaden your mind, in this case by challenging established wisdom by attacking the flawed science that much of it is based on. But it doesn’t come across as preachy, or even as boring – it’s a thoroughly engaging look at how science has been manipulated, without our knowledge, and it raises and then answers a whole host of questions that follow.

And that’s how science should be – the entire field relies upon enquiring minds asking questions, and Saini doesn’t shy away from them. Some people claim that science can’t be sexist because it just presents the facts, but facts can be interpreted in different ways, such as when we try to explain why the menopause happens.

For me, as a reader, it was a challenge – not because it was difficult to read, but because it invited my active participation and got me wondering, “What if?” And it’s as convincing on the matter of gender as The God Delusion is on religion – a much-needed triumph of free thinking. Read it!