I think successful mentorship works in the other direction. The mentor analyzes the mentee, matches the mentee's experiences against his/her own, and guides the

I think successful mentorship works in the other direction. The mentor analyzes the mentee, matches the mentee's experiences against his/her own, and guides the mentee in the right direction. I think the best question you can ask is "what do you think I should do to meet my goal X" for whatever value of X. I guess it can't hurt to ask questions like "what books influenced you," as someone else answered. Except that it wastes your valuable time with this person. If this person thinks a book was instrumental enough to make a difference for you, they'll certainly mention it.