I spent the past weekend at the Melbourne Convention Centre where Readings had installed a pop-up book shop to cater for the Australian Labor Party faithfuls – for the national media teams, the protesters, the leaders-to-be and the waggishness of many journalists.

We chatted with our greatest social commentators including David Marr, Guy Rundle and James Button. There were wonderful moments as we watched camera men following politicians from one side of the centre, to the next. We admired the protesters and other stall holders – Friends of the ABC, Emily’s List and Open Labor. And we sold books. Now I’m wondering whether our top sellers for the weekend are a telling reflection of what we want and what we don’t have?

Here’s the top five bestselling books from the conference…

• The Book of Paul: The Wit and Wisdom of Paul Keating by Russell Marks
• The Good Fight by Wayne Swan
• The Gillard Project: My Thousand Days of Despair and Hope by Michael Cooney
• Across the Seas: Australia’s Response to Refugees - a History by Klaus Neumann
• Northern Lights: The Positive Policy Example of Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway by Andrew Scott

You’ll be pleased to know we also sold The Communist Manifesto and the Essays of George Orwell.

Chris Gordon