Religious books saw a decrease of more than 12% for May, with sales totaling $38.3 million. Sales were also down by 9.7 % for the year, according to figures released by the Association of American Publishers (AAP). Overall book sales tracked by the group decreased by 3.2% at $637.9 million and were down nearly 4% for the year.

The bright spot for the month and for the year was in e-books, whose sales jumped by 196.6 % for the month ($11.5 million), reflecting an increase of 166.7 % for the year. On the other hand, audiobooks posted a decrease of nearly 23% in May with sales totaling $10.7 million; sales for the whole year were down more than 39%.

The Adult Hardcover category was down nearly 41% in May with sales of $96.9 million, with year-to-date sales down by 23.7 %. Adult Paperback sales increased more than 12% for the month ($113.2 million), but decreased by almost 20% for the year. The Adult Mass Market category was down nearly 15% for May with sales totaling $64.7 million; sales were also down by 11.3 % year-to-date.

The Children's/Young Adult Hardcover category rose more than 41% for the month with sales of $57.1 million, and sales for year-to-date were up by 36.4 %. Children's/Young Adult Paperbacks went up 1.3 % in May with sales totaling $43.4 million; sales increased by 1.8 % for the year.

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