Conservative Books Lead the Nation's Top Bestseller Lists

Two books which can be categorized as “conservative” are holding the top bestselling slots on the two major Top Bestseller Lists in America. Say what you will about most of “mainstream America” having a liberal mindset and conservatives being the minority—but reader trends contradict that statement.

Radio conservative shock-jock Glenn Beck is sitting comfortably at No. 1 with his latest book “Common Sense,” on the USA TODAY Bestseller List; and on the NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller List in the category of Paperback Nonfiction. The book offers Beck's brand of insight into America's current political, economic and social climate.

Beck’s previous book, “An Inconvenient Book,” did a good job of bashing both sides of the congressional aisle. It held the top Bestseller spot at the NY Times for a while in 2008. Curiously, liberal comedian Stephen Colbert’s book “I Am America (And So Can You)” plus the other three books on the NY Time’s bestseller list during that period all had book reviews on line at the Times; but Beck’s book was neither reviewed by the newspaper staff nor did they allow outsiders to contribute a review…I know because I tried.

Beck’s “An Inconvenient Book” is now still sitting on the Times list at No. 5 in the same category as his "Common Sense." It has performed consistently well all year. Colbert’s book is nowhere in sight.

The NEW YORK TIMES has ex-Democrat Dick Morris’ book, “Catastrophe” as No. 1 in the Hardcover Nonfiction category, while USA TODAY has this book all the way down at No. 17, where it’s followed closely by Mark Levin’s “Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto” at No. 22. Levin is the author of a previous bestseller, “Men in Black: How the Supreme Court Is Destroying America.”

Morris, who was an advisor to Bill Clinton through many of his campaigns including the presidential elections, gets picked on for resigning during a sex scandal, supposedly caught in an adulterous relationship. He then started writing exposés of the Clintons, and has since taken on the workings of the political machine in many books and articles.

See my 2008 Associated Content review of Beck’s “An Inconvenient Book” here.