Bowker, a global firm that tracks people’s book-buying habits, reports some interesting statistics about book-buying in the U.S.

And, in what is no surprise at all, women make 64% of all book purchases.

The results are in!

The NPR audience nominated some 600 novels to our ‘Killer Thrillers’ poll and cast more than 17,000 ballots. The final roster of winners is a diverse one to say the least, ranging in style and period from Dracula to The Da Vinci Code, Presumed Innocent to Pet Sematary. What these top 100 titles share, however, is that all of them are fast-moving tales of suspense and adventure.

And menace. Critic Maureen Corrigan, who served on the advisory panel of experts for this project, was surprised by how dark many of your choices are. ‘Even the [Agatha] Christie pick, And Then There Were None, is one of her creepier novels.’

How many of these have you read? I weigh in at 40.

And no, having seen the movie doesn’t count if you haven’t also read the book.

There were 460 incidents of people attempting to ban books from libraries last year, according to the American Library Association, including a recent one where a group of parents succeeded in banning an anthology of writings by gay youth from the library of a New Jersey high school and from the local public library. With the 28th annual Banned Book Weeks coming up September 25 to October 2, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression is asking booksellers to join the hundreds of bookstores and libraries that already have publicized such incidents.

Amen to all that. It’s almost time to pull out my “I Read Banned Books” button.

Another offering from National Public Radio, this one about the new biography of poet Emily Dickinson that opens the door on a number of skeletons in the Dickinson family closet.

National Public Radio’s contribution to the upcoming 50th anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Yvonne Zipp, in Christian Science Monitor, reviews a new book issued to honor the fiftieth anniversary–July 11–of the publication of Harper Lee’s iconic novel To Kill a Mockingbird: “‘Scout, Atticus & Boo’ is a lovely celebration of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ And if, in the end, many of the interviews boil down to: This is a really, really good book… well, they’re right. “

As the book industry gathered for its annual convention in New York this week, it had plenty to be nervous about: the threat of piracy, the decline of brick-and-mortar stores and the perhaps-too-low price of e-books.

“A book worker is one engaged in the hand book arts, which includes “bookbinding, conservation, printing, papermaking, calligraphy, marbling and artist’s books.” The Guild of Book Workers is a century-plus-old American organization that sponsors workshops, lectures, and exhibitions. Their website is a great resource for book workers, or for those interested in viewing and learning about the hand book arts. Visitors unfamiliar with book art should definitely take a look at the “Galleries” link under the “News & Events” section of the site. Some of the themes of the exhibits in the gallery are “Marking Time” and “AbeCeDarium”, which is the alphabet, and a classic theme for the book arts. Visitors will find it enjoyable to see how the same theme can be expressed or interpreted in so many beautiful, moving, or disturbing ways by book artists. The multitude of online galleries on this site is a real treat for those who enjoy the creativity of the book arts.”

>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2010. http://scout.wisc.edu/

To get you started on some possibilities for next year’s best books list, “Here are some of the big books expected in January.”