Bookstore sales rose 3.8% in June, to $1.04 billion, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The strong June performance helped to put bookstore sales in 2012 slightly ahead of sales at the half-way point of 2011, with sales up 0.6%, to $6.98 billion. Sales include results from retailers where books comprise at least 50% of sales.

For the entire retail segment, June sales rose 3.0%, while sales for the first six months were up 6.3%.