"With all the negative economic news, it is extremely encouraging to see this kind of momentum," said Sally Hofmann, senior vice president of general market sales for Thomas Nelson. "We are finding that in tough times, readers are predominantly looking for books that do two things ... nonfiction that helps answer uncertainty and provides comfort and for fiction that provides a sense of escapism."

The growth was driven by the success of recent releases, including Andy Andrews' The Noticer and Fox News correspondent Lis Wiehl's debut novel, Face of Betrayal, company officials said. Also, New York Times best-sellers such as Ron Hall and Denver Moore's Same Kind of Different as Me and Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover continued to generate strong sales.

"I anticipate that we will continue to see substantial growth in the general market for the remainder of the year," Hofmann said. "Several of our major releases, including Donald Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Marcus Buckingham's Find Your Strongest Life and Max Lucado's Fearless, are already generating buzz from retailers and consumers alike."

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