Sales for bookstores rose 1.9% in August to $2.08 billion, according to initial estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. The gain was below the 7.6% increase for the entire retail segment and was only the third gain for this year. Overall bookstore sales were down by 2.2% for the first eight months of 2005 to $10.33 billion despite the August gain and the .9% increase in July.

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