A Century is Not Enough (Sourav Ganguly) – Focused primarily on Ganguly’s fighting spirit during his toughest times, and how he got himself to bounce back no matter how low the odds seemed to be. While we do get an interesting snapshot of his cricketing journey, it definitely would’ve been much more exciting had he spent more words on the IPL, or about his life before representing India. What the book conveys, in my opinion, is don’t give up no matter how much you’ve already done, don’t take your position for granted. On a general basis, not that good a book because it focuses solely on the mental aspects of Ganguly’s game, and has sparsely located personal anecdotes and experiences.
Prelude to Foundation (Isaac Asimov) – A step as compared to Foundation’s Edge and Foundation and Earth. What I took away from the initial stages of the book was the contrast between what psychohistory is in the main trilogy, and how unsure Seldon is of it in the book. Really just showed no matter how improbably or irrelevant something seems at the start, its potential really can’t be measured. The different cultures/societies introduced was also fascinating, especially Dahl. What made Dahl stand out, for me, was just how close equality seemed to be, but the irony involved with Dahlites both wanting equality with other sectors across Trantor, and having factions/ranks within their own societal order (no heatsinkers in the house etc.). The ending was also pretty awesome, especially with Hummin being revealed as Demerzel, but then being revealed as Daneel (robot) who was implementing the zeroth law of robotics the entire time. That part where Daneel reveals who also has another plan he doesn’t want Seldon to know about is also pretty telling, with him obviously referring to Gaia. Really served as the sort of reference that made everything much more connected to the later books (chronological).
The Culture Code (Daniel Coyle) – Not that bad, but not excessively good either. The monotone style of writing made reading the book a tad hard (although a short length rescued it). It was interesting reading about how having techniques that promoted open-mindedness in the form of having the ability to question anything, even the management, was pretty interesting. Some parts were inspirational, not that good a read but still worthy trying, especially if you’re taking a shot at being an effective leader.
Forward the Foundation (Isaac Asimov) – Nearly not as good as Prelude to Foundation. I hated how lonely Seldon became at the end. Plus, I’m not a huge fan of Dors being a robot from the very start. How Seldon’s love “made her human” was pretty emotional, but that reveal was way too forged. Also didn’t like Raych and family moving away, and then Seldon sending Wanda away for her own good. Huge difference between the Seldon here, and the Seldon portrayed in the original Foundation book. Also wanted a closer look at Gaal Dormick. I think the Foundation Saga would’ve been decisively better without the two prequel books, they seem like dead weight to me.