A new survey of American reading habits contains a few surprises -- not the least of which is that more people have picked up a graphic novel in the past year than either "chick-lit" or Westerns.

The poll, by Harris Interactive, found that among the people who read a book in that period, the numbers were about even for fiction and nonfiction. Almost half of fiction readers settled in with a mystery/thriller/crime book, but if you skip down four rungs, you'll find graphic novels (11 percent), nestled between romance (21 percent) and "chick-lit" (8 percent).

The survey was conducted online -- an important consideration, of course -- among 2,775 U.S. adults ages 18 and over.

Graphic novels were most popular among respondents ages 18 to 33 (18 percent), and decreased with age; almost twice as many men than women said they read a graphic novel in the past year.

Another surprise (maybe?): J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkien are less popular than Danielle Steel.

(Photo pilfered from Lisa McCarty's Flickr account)