An interesting list from Amazon

Amazon published its 100 top reader chosen books for 2009. In the top 20 are two Glenn Beck books and Mark Levin's Liberty and Tyranny (at 2 with the Beck books at 3 and 16) but also there are Going Rogue and Culture of Corruption (Michelle Malkin's book on Obama). Thus a quarter of the top rated books are by or about conservatives. The only book close to a liberal one is Senator Kennedy's Autobiography. In the top 30 add the Dick Morris book called Catastrophe. For the rest of the top 30 there are a couple of novels and several health books. If you look at the numbers in the Amazon top 100 sellers only Palin's book is there. So the reader best books list must be telling us something.

Here are some possible explanations:

#1 - Conservatives are better conspirators. (The Hillary Clinton Theory) All these kinds of lists are merely an opportunity for conservatives to exercise their tech savvy - this is a variation of the rant first offered by Hillary that there is a vast right wing conspiracy somehow that frustrates liberal ambitions.
#2 - Liberals control the media so they do not need to write down their ideas. (The Rush Limbaugh Theory) This could actually have been said by many other conservative talk show hosts. It seems like the Yang of the first one's Yin.
#3 - When you are out of power you have time to write. (The Memoir Theory) No additional explanation seems necessary here. Politicians and those who would be public commentators want to figure out how to keep themselves before the public.
#4 - Today's readers are tomorrow's voters. (The 2010 Theory) - Among the ones listed this is the most convincing. The only book in the top 20 that I have read is the Levin book which is part screed and part history. But my suspicion is that the reader list is in part a reflection of the general mood of the country at about one year into the Obama presidency. If the GOP candidate to replace Senator Kennedy comes anywhere close on January 19 - this one will certainly be the most credible.