By Edward Nawotka

US bookstore sales fell 0.8% in 2009, to $16.60 billion, while overall retail sales dropped 2.2%, according to preliminary results from the U.S. Census Bureau and as reported in Publishers Weekly. While it might not look like much of an improvement — the number is still a drop after all — it is a significant improvement from the previous year when overall sales were down more than 6%.

December bookstores sales were down 0.6%, to $2.03 billion, despite a rise of more than 5% for the month for the overall retail sales picture.