Bookstore sales had their best month of the year in August, with sales up 3.4% over August 2013.

According to figures released Wednesday morning by the U.S. Census Bureau, bookstore sales were $1.68 billion this past August, up from $1.63 billion a year ago. With the August increase, sales through the first eight months of 2014 were down 5.3% compared to the same period in 2013, and fell to $7.49 billion from $7.91 billion.

For the entire retail segment, sales rose 3.2% in August and were up 3.7% in the first eight months of 2014.