Paul Grenyer

Isaac Asimov  ISBN-13: 978-0007381159  Although the original Foundation trilogy (1950s) laid the groundwork for Asimov’s universe, I’ve always found it rather bland. When Asimov returned to the series in the 1980s with Foundation’s Edge, the leap in storytelling quality felt far greater than the thirty years that separated them. Growing up, I listened to Prelude to Foundation on cassette and loved it. Published just six years after Foundation’s Edge (with Foundation and Earth in between), it cemented for me how much richer and more engaging Asimov’s later entries were compared to the original trilogy. The mystery, the twists, and the separate timelines that converge all give the story a grand space-opera feel. The characters resonated with me, and the depiction of spaceships and hyperspace travel felt believable - perhaps because Asimov wisely avoids overexplaining how hyperspace works. Some of his characteristic sexism remains, though it’s far less pronounced than in the earl...

By Steve R. Covey ISBN-13: 978-1471195204  This book was recommended to me years ago when I was running my own business, but I only picked it up recently. I wish I’d read it back then, it would have been even more useful. I was expecting the habits to be things like, get up at 5am, always have a prioritised todo list, only do the things which matter, etc. The vast majority of it is not like that at all. I was pleased to find that I am doing most of the habits already, but there was still plenty for me to learn. I've always been proactive and put the first things first, but the book made me step back and see it from a wider perspective. The habits around Win/Win or No Deal and Sharpening the Saw also stood out for me. Sean Covey’s modern insights were a welcome addition, especially his humorous “7 Habits of Highly Ineffective People.” They made the book feel more relevant without losing the core message. That said, I do have two main criticisms: it’s at least twice as long as it nee...