Current Audiobook Recommendations

After you make babies, you have to educate them. Piece of cake. In addition to some good old textbooks on math, science from the 18th and 19th century, (because they're far more challenging that what you ever studied in college) Just put these on the shelf, read bedtime stories to your children and make sure they frequently see you reading.

90% of the Founding Fathers' education was in morality. And that's turned out pretty well. Included are the kinds of books you'd find to address the other 10%.

Should you read the Bible before reading Mortimer J. Adler's How to Read a Book?

I did. And I started with "the Psalms". This 4-hour is the moment in life I realized I'd been lied to and fell passionately in love with our heavenly Father's word. And for me, it was at least as thrilling as movies like Fury Road or Crank. I was saved just in time for one of my grandparents to see it.

But this resource is still here. Audiobooks are more portable than ever. More convenient than ever. They help increase your vocabulary, which never fails to increase a man's IQ. And can be easily downloaded, stored and transported by those who are so inclined with the help of tools such as aTubeCatcher, which in itself has been downloaded 120 million times.

Here, I open up my library of top picks for those who've been inspired by their day with Zig Ziglar to seek instruction. I've also inspired by Jim Rohn, author of Cultivating an Unshakeable Character to share these with you so that my students my far surpass me.

It's my hope to encourage and inspire every kind of success. Not just political or monetary. But because the wealth of a nation is the wealth of its people and their families, its health their health, its strength their strength, I would shore you up, my brothers, so that the gates of hell cannot prevail against you.

Just as you found me by hearing my voice, and since hearing stories preceded reading and writing in each child's life, it seems most natural to receive an overview of life's most precious lessons first through the spoken word, even if later studied and scrutinized in another form.

1. The Bible. Rich, powerful men read it. Poor, powerless men pretend they did. My current favorite audio book version of the Bible, despite some obvious problems with casting. But if you want the audio Bible that's most likely to be endorsed by Mel Gibson, this would probably be the one. The NKJV is not my favorite translation, but it has the ten commandments in it. If nothing else, enjoy the Bible. Personally, I'd start with the Psalms. It's through the Psalms that I realized I'be been lied to all my life, and it's through the Psalms that I fell passionately in love with God. (The Old and New Testament are recommended by Jim Rohn, a man who is undoubtably the common thread connecting all of the greatest modern success coaches, with tens of billions of dollars of wealth very easily traceable to him.)
2. How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler. You'd think I'd begin here, but it's taken me about 5 years to come back to the beginning. By the time I read this one through, I hope the intervening time wasn't completely wasted. In his book, Mein Kampf, Brother Adolfus Hitler (who we're told is evil) has much more concise rant about reading history to understand it, rather than to memorize names and dates. By the way, even if someone is evil, Jesus tells you in no uncertain terms not to resist an evil man. That's why the Bible comes before Mein Kampf. (Current favorite is the 2017 Thomas Dalton translation.)
3. As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
4. The Lessons of History by Will Durant, recommended by Jim Rohn, and the title implies a work Adolf Hitler would have loved. Such a book is possibly the biggest shortcut ever. H.G. Wells also provides an Outline of History and a Short History of the World. Durant was prolific on the subject as you'll see The Will Durant Series.
5. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clayson. For those who are sincerely interested in generating wealth, for any reason, such as being able to feed, clothe, and house more poor than you otherwise would, you must take Jim Rohn's most frequently cited recommendation very seriously. It's easy reading and made available in easily digestible story form.
6. The Art of War by General Sun Tzu is a classic on many lists. Useful, though now obsolete, it allows you to see how our foolish enemies think about warfare. To those with eyes to see, Jesus made the Art of War, and even modern counter-insurgency look like a toddler drooling on his building blocks. But for any businessman endeavoring to kick his competitor's teeth in, it still earns a spot on the shelf. If only it were as ruthless as Jesus. Pity. 
7. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli might be the least "Machiavellian" book of all time next to The Little Engine that Could. Good will always be attacked by evil. A solid nod of approval for kids of all ages.
8. The Courtier by Baldassare Castiglione, Part 1 and Part 2. Just take a look and see if it's for you.
9. Cultivating an Unshakable Character by Jim Rohn. Many tens of billions of dollars have already been made thanks to this man's advice.
10. The Commentaries by Julius Caesar. For those who've underestimated Jesus, reading what Caesar does and says is thoroughly helpful in appreciating the Son of Man. The power is in reading it. Not pretending to. 

If you're into Shakespeare, fine. Read Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Henry V and a few others. They're not all winners. The text is so obscured by the intervening centuries that you might want to hold your nose and watch the Al Pacino version. (NSFW warning: May contain way too many boobs and too much sympathy for the devil. It's twice now that Pacino's played the devil.) The performances are head and shoulders above any other I've seen so that you can almost understand the text through the life the actors breathe into the words. But as someone who's participated in a bit of Shakespeare I can tell you that with or without a dictionary handy, you'd understand it a lot better after the fifth and tenth read-through. And bear in mind that in the 16th century, all the female roles were played by cross-dressing boys.

It's very worthwhile to learn about finance and self-defense, but keep in mind the Pareto Principle. A few books will stand out. In a small business, never delegate the marketing or the checkbook. Also, better to run a big conglomerate than a small business. Learn about Scientific Advertising from Claude Hopkins, (which continues to crown itself as the king of all books on advertising) before starting or buying a business of any size.