Bookstore sales rose 3.5% in October, to $1.06 billion, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. The increase was half as steep as the 7.1% gain reported by the entire retail sector in the month. The bureau revised September's bookstore sales slightly upward, to $1.52 billion, swinging a 0.9% decline in sales to an increase of 1.3%. For the first 10 months of the year, bookstore sales were up 2.9%, to $13.1 billion, while all of retail reported a 5.4% increase.