J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, recently appeared on the Richard & Rudy talk show - she said that there will be at least two major deaths in the final installment of the series, and even hinted that Harry himself might be one of them (as she’s been known to do in the past).

You can read a report on it at Guardian Unlimited Books, or read the full interview transcript here.

Just released today: Danse Macabre by Laurell K. Hamilton (dark fantasy following a necromancer in St. Louise - the fourteenth novel in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series); The Traitor by Stephen Coonts and Jim DeFelice (a CIA agent is assigned to find out why the director of French intelligence is making investments in the Bank of Palestine); and Coming Out by Danielle Steel (general fiction that revolves around a ball in New York).

The Independent has an article entitled Crime Fiction: Fast cars, guns and babes - perfect! that you may want to check out.

This excuse is getting old fast, but there really hasn’t been much going on lately. News isn’t always easy to find.

Remember that book club TV show we reported on a while back? Well, it’s been pulled after two shows with low ratings.

USA Today has an article on the state of the chick lit genre that I found interesting. You can find it here.

(Am I the only one who didn’t realize Bridget Jones’s Diary appariantly started the whole thing?)

There is a new literary prize, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, that will be awarding $10,000 each year to a novel with themes that promote peaceful solutions to conflict.

Five major booksellers and distributors of Europe sent an open letter to American and British publishers, “voicing their concern over the attempt by U.K. houses to get exclusive rights to the European market.”

Many e-book software companies and device manufacturers are supporting new standards that would make it easier for both e-book customers and publishers.

Here’s something that I haven’t seen before: Cathy’s Book, a novel for teenage girls, is going to include the use of a lot of Procter & Gamble’s Cover Girl makeup. There isn’t any money being exchanged - instead, the “Beinggirl” website which Procter & Gamble also runs will be extensively promoting the book.

Paul Malmont has recently written The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril as a sort of tribute to the fading genre of pulp fiction - the “ultimate adventure stories spiced with fantasy, science fiction and plenty of superheroes.”