Hold That Bricks-and-Mortar Bookstore Obituary

*At least for the time being.  (See pie charts at end of this post.)

Sales of adult trade books in November up 30% over last year.

E-Books, Shmee-Books:  Readers Return to the Stores.  (The New York Times, 12/13/2011)

Excerpt:    Facing economic gloom and competition from cheap e-readers, brick-and-mortar booksellers entered this holiday season with the humblest of expectations.

But the initial weeks of Christmas shopping, a boom time for the book business, have yielded surprisingly strong sales for many bookstores, which report that they have been lifted by an unusually vibrant selection; customers who seem undeterred by pricier titles; and new business from people who used to shop at Borders, the chain that went out of business this year.

Sales up 15% from last year.

Sales figures for print books for the first 9 months of 2011, however, aren't particularly reassuring.  Print down 18.6%.  Ebooks up 137.9%.

Print comes up short.  (Publishers Weekly, 12/2/2011)

Note the growth in the orange slice of pie.