Drive-by Book Reviews: The Bounce Back Book and Escape From Corporate America

It’s time for another every-other-Wednesday drive by book review!

This wednesday, I’ve got two new books on tap for you:

• The Bounce Back Book by Karen Salmansohn
• Escape From Corporate America by Pamela Skillings

Now, for the drive-by details:

The Bounce Back Book by Karen Salmansohn (disclosure - Karen’s a friend):

What’s it about? Getting past adversity in all areas of life.

What makes it different? Two things–design, brevity and pith. Okay, that was three things. The moment you pick up this book, you know it’s different. Why?

It’s got a red rubber cover, that’s right RUBBER!

Salmansohn’s eye for detail has always been part of what makes her books stand out, but this one takes the book’s look and feel to a whole new level. Every page is like a burst of creativity, fun, emotion. It’s just plain fun to look at, which means it’s also fun to give as a gift (hint, hint).

Once you get past the design, the content is short, sassy and useful. You don’t have to work hard to get the message. The principles are straight forward and the actions and exercises offered are things anyone can do right here, right now.

Karen writes with a wonderful blend of humor and insight, a rare combo these days.

Who needs to read it? Anyone who’s looking for some fast, easy advice to bounce back from anything life throws at you, with a bit of a wink and a nod. It’s not going to take the place of your shrink (unless he or she sucks), but it’ll get you moving in the right direction.

Also, because it’s so pretty and lighthearted, you can give it to someone as a pick-me-up, without feeling like your intruding or getting too preachy.

Escape From Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams by Pamela Skillings

What’s it about? Getting the hell out of corporate America

What makes it different? I first learned about this book when I was working on my book on careers and avoided getting an advance copy, because I didn’t want someone else’s words and ideas floating around my head while I wrote mine. And, I confess to being a bit concerned about the potential for overlap. But, reality is, people need so much help finding work they love these day, I figured bring it on. Plus, after reading Skilling’s book, I realized we wrote very different books.

This book operates as a field guide for people who are interested in seeing if the grass really is greener on the un-corporate side of the fence. It explores the elements that contribute to unhappiness at work, then lays out a series of steps designed to help figure out what it is you might want to do, test your ideas, make a plan, then take action.

As the book title implies (A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams), it’s filled with a lot of practical, doable steps and resources that provide great value, even for those who are interested in making the jump, but are not quite ready to drink the Kool-Aid. Plus, I am a huge fan of stories, I like to see how other people have done it, and Skillings does a great job of dancing between advice and stories that bring the advice to life.

Who needs to read it? Suits looking for a life…or people who know suits looking or a life.