Bookstore sales rose 0.6% in April over April 2014, according to preliminary estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Bookstore sales hit $659 million this April, up from $655 million. April was also the second month in a row that sales in 2015 increased over 2014. For the first four months of 2015, bookstore sales were down 0.5%, to $3.43 billion compared to the same period in 2014 even though sales gains for March were revised downward from a previously reported 5.1% gain to 1.1%.

For the entire retail sector, April sales were up 1.4% and sales for the January-April period increased 2.1%.