Green Eggs and Ham in the Car

About four years ago, in a column I was writing for the Tucson Citizen's business magazine, Tucson Business Edge, I wrote about giving high school and college graduates ten or so “books to read for a lifetime.” For example, a man I know who taught a sales course said that one of his favorites was the Dr. Seuss classic, Green Eggs and Ham

Back then, I asked people to email me their list of Ten Ten Books for Graduates.

Honestly, I was surprised by the volume of email I got and by the variety of the answers. One highly successful man proclaimed that he hadn't read a book in years. A woman wrote that her favorite books were nearly all fiction – novels. Other people complained that they couldn't pare down their list to just ten. Could they make it 12 please. 15? 18?

The top ten, by a narrow margin, turned out to include The Holy Bible, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and both of Dale Carnegie's most famous books, How to Win Friends and Influence People and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.

Now I'm writing to ask for your feedback on a variation of this question about top books a new graduate, high school or college, should have. My questions are these:

1. What books on CD/MP3 do you think they should get and listen to in the car?

2. What would you say to them to persuade them to listen to books on CD/MP3?

I've noticed that my admonitions mostly win me weary looks from young people. “Hey,” I start, “would you agree that you spend about an hour a day in the car?” They agree. “What do you do with that time? Do you mostly listen to music or .... what?” They mostly listen to music. Talk on their cell phone. Text.

“So,” I say, “Here is a list of the ten books that are most likely to help you be a success in life. Have you read any of them?” Often the answer is “no,” or ,“well, just one.” I've tried this proposal: “If I gave you the first one on CD, would you agree to listen to it in your car, instead of music?”

Now it's your turn. What 10-12 books do you think everyone should own on CD/MP3? With an audio book a person doesn't have to read at all, so that should make getting through the book easier, right? In the car, at the gym, on walks around the block or even falling to sleep at night.

Send me your “Top 10-12 Audio Books of all Time” list, and we'll compile them and report back to you. If you're not sure if an audio version of your favorite book is available, you can always check out Amazon.

Here's a book I've just listened to again, though I don't know whether it would make anybody's top 10 list. How to Become A Rainmaker. The Rules for Getting and Keeping Clients. Jeffrey Fox's delivery of his own pithy content is funny, at times, when he admonishes sales people to not accept coffee when the prospect offers a cup. Or always give the client the seat in the restaurant without a view.

Fox would know how to sell young people on the value of listening to audio books. The unnamed narrator of the book, Green Eggs and Ham asks Sam I Am to try green eggs and ham over and over again – 22 times I think – before Sam I Am agrees to try green eggs and ham. Then Sam I Am says, “I like it! I like green eggs and ham.” Do we just need to ask young people 22 times to try audio books in the car? How many times would we have to ask you?

Let me know, and I'll proclaim, "I like it. I like getting people to listen to books in the car."