Our top 10 bestsellers of the week

  1. Quarterly Essay 73: Australia Fair - Listening to the Nation by Rebecca Huntley
  2. Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
  3. Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
  4. Eight Lives by Susan Hurley
  5. The Thinking Woman by Julienne Van Loon
  6. Normal People by Sally Rooney
  7. Witches: What Women Do Together by Sam George-Allen
  8. The Rip by Mark Brandi
  9. From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage by Judith Brett
  10. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Rebecca Huntley’s Quarterly Essay, Australia Fair: Listening to the Nation is our bestselling book last week. In this essay, leading social researcher Huntley asks the question, ‘what do Australians want most from their next government? And will our representatives listen to a call for change?’

Women-authored works are popular among last week’s top 10, including Susan Hurley’s gripping new medical thriller Eight Lives, Sam George-Allen’s cultural history of women’s communities, Witches: What Women Do Together, Judith Brett’s compelling and eye-opening political history, From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage, and Julienne Van Loon’s The Thinking Woman, a blend of philosophy and essay that examines the work and ideas of six leading contemporary writers: Rosi Braidotti, Nancy Holmstrom, Siri Hustvedt, Laura Kipnis, Julia Kristeva and Marina Warner.

Other bestselling books from last week include a compulsively readable work of contemporary realism by Mark Brandi (The Rip), crowd-pleasing novels Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and Boy Swallows Universe, and Bruce Pascoe’s game-changing history of Australia, Dark Emu.