HTML

<ul class="selectable-list">
    <li>
        <p>Visit Google.</p>
        <a href="http://www.google.com">Google</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <p>Visit Apple.</p>
        <a href="http://www.apple.com">Apple</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <p>Visit Microsoft.</p>
        <a href="http://www.microsoft.com">Microsoft</a>
    </li>
</ul>

CSS

.selectable-list li.ui-selected,.selectable-list li.ui-selected:hover {
    background-color: #ccc;
}

JS

$(document).ready(function(){
 
    $(".selectable-list").selectable();
 
});