(Yes, Wesley, that’s an affiliate link. If you click it and buy the book, I’ll make $1.75)

I get books to review quite often these days (and I’m grateful for every one). Some of them are pretty humdrum. Others are interesting, but really preachy. I can say without hesitation that The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, by Mike Michalowicz is the first book my Mom ever ran off with before I even had a chance to browse it. She was visiting last week, and did just that.

Diane Brogan runs a custom wire wrapped jewelry business, and generally likes to read the same types of books as me. But she really liked the TPE. She thought the cover and title was catchy, and that’s what got her to read it.

“One of the things that hit home was, in order to be a true success, you have to have passion. You have to live it, think it, breathe it. If what you want to do does not become part of you, you may not be as successful as you planned to be. It’s focus.

I thought the writing style was good. When I started, I thought that it was a little bit crass, but right from the beginning, it was very real. But we’ve all been in that situation in the bathroom and it’s very real. I thought that he went through the planning steps of being alone in the bathroom without enough toilet paper, in a great way.”

I read the book, too. There are lots of interesting ideas that are even more pertinent given the economic situation globally. I think Mike Michalowicz has a great perspective, and offers a mix of cheerleading and first steps to action. The book will most definitely have you smirking, and you might just accidentally learn something while enjoying the read.

Check out The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur or put it on your list for a gift.

Countless stories and anecdotes are collected in this book, and the research is probably the best selling point of Bounce. Barry threads his own stories through it, but he backs everything he says up by three or four or five examples from other people’s lives.

In one way, this made the storytelling aspect of the book a little diffuse. Barry leads off the book with his story, goes into more of his story, and then uses his story as part of the backbone of the book, but there’s SO MUCH of other people’s experiences in the book, that I found myself a bit distracted by it all.

This isn’t really a knock, because this book is LOADED with things to think about, and his research assistant, who is thanked in the acknowledgments, deserves whatever he paid her and more. This book is chock full of stories on failure.

I recommend Bounce to budding entrepreneurs, especially those who maybe have their heads in the clouds and aren’t considering how to prepare for the dips in the road. It will certainly get your mind racing. In fact, maybe don’t read this just before bed. It might deliver a healthy dose of insomnia.

Check it out here: Bounce!: Failure, Resiliency, and Confidence to Achieve Your Next Great Success