Seeing a decrease for the fourth month in a row, sales of religious books declined in September, as overall book sales decreased by 12.1% to $1.1 billion, but were up by 3.8% for the year, according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP).

The month's sales for religious books declined 2.5% to $66.1 million, with sales down 0.3% for the year. Sales of religious books had risen in May, April and March, but declined 8% in June, 11.9% in July and 0.4% in August. Previously, other than a small increase in December, the religious books category had been on a steady decline since January 2009.

The brightest spot in the AAP report was e-book sales, which continued to rise in September—reflecting an increase of 158.1% to $39.9 million for the month and 188.4% for the year.

The Adult Hardcover category was down by 40.4% in September with sales of $180.3 million, and year-to-date sales were down by 8.1%. Adult Paperback sales decreased by 15.8% for the month—posting $111.5 million in sales—but increased by 1.5% for the year.

The Children's/Young Adult Hardcover category decreased by 17.4% for the month with sales of $76.6 million, and year-to-date sales were down by 15.1%. The Paperback category for the same age decreased 1.6% in September with sales totaling $53.3 million, and sales were down by 6.8% for the year.

Physical audiobook sales decreased 42.6% in September—with sales totaling $11.6 million—and the category's year-to-date sales were down by 12.6%.

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