One thing (among many) I like about my Kindle is that before purchasing a book, you can download a 10-15 page sample of any book you’re interested in. Which is good when the book doesn’t measure up to its digital back cover. It’s not so good when you get sucked into a book that you a) don’t have the time for, or b) don’t have the money for. Those damn Amazon people must have a voodoo doll of my bank account somewhere.

So when I saw that Katie Couric’s new book Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives was recommended to me, I figured I should at least give it a look. And when prompted to either gnash my teeth at the thought of leading an incomplete life by not finishing the book or purchase it for $12.99, I opted for the latter. My need for resolution trumps frugality every time.

Luckily, it was a good purchase after all.

The book is made up of short essays written by public figures and/or successful people in their fields. Bill Cosby, Arianna Huffington, Maria Shriver, Stephen Spielburg, Melinda Gates, et al. Inspired when Katie Couric was writing a commencement speech of her own, she decided to pull from the other friends and wise people she’d brushed shoulders with in her career. The resulting collection is inspiring, motivating and super great for ADD readers (like me). The essays are succinct and perfect for a quick read during commercial breaks while watching “CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.”

Bill Cosby tells us about his botched “big break,” Melinda Gates reminds us that sometimes it takes the encouragement of another, Mitch Albom shares more advice from Morrie and Meryl Streep discusses the importance of empathy in acting and living alike. All of these successful (and sometimes unsuccessful) people share delightful little morsels about what is important to them in life and how they arrived at that place.

This book is about success, yes, but it is also about making the choices that lead to fulfilling your purpose and owning your corner of the universe. That could mean packing up your career at Microsoft and starting a charity that provides books as well as a livelihood to students in Nepal like John Wood. It might be forgetting “what” you are in favor of “who” you are, as Ellen Levine did when she started as a reporter. Or perhaps, as author Salman Rushdie learned from Angela Carter: “F**k the lot of them.”

This book offers a glimpse into the lives of some of our county’s, if not the world’s brightest, boldest and most influential people who see the importance sharing with us their path to success.

In reading this, you may not become the next Steve Jobs or Meryl Streep, but you can take their advice and become the person you were meant to be. Or, at the very least, a person with entertaining celebrity anecdotes to bring out at parties.