The weak improvement in bookstore sales seen in the first quarter disappeared in April with the U.S. Census Bureau reporting that bookstore sales fell 4.1% in the month, to $917 million. For the first quarter, bookstore sales had been up 1.2%, but the April decline left sales flat at $5.24 billion through the first four months of 2010. Sales for the entire retail market rose 4.6% in April and were up 4.0% for the first four months of the year.