More on Barnes & Noble, which announced second quarter results yesterday:

Earnings were better than expected by analysts, but some of them remained unimpressed. According to Reuters, Standard & Poor analyst Michael Souers "kept his $16 price target and 'strong sell' recommendation on the shares." Souers wrote: "Facing long-term challenges such as a secular decline in adult readership levels as well as an increasing shift toward eBooks, we think shares are overvalued." B&N shares fell 3.3% to $20.26 on an up day on Wall Street.

Earnings were "aided by lower distribution costs, fewer markdowns and better sales of higher-margin bargain and gift items," Reuters said.

Inventories are down $108 million or 8% from a year ago, according to Streetinsider.com. "The company had $158 million in cash and no borrowings at quarter end or throughout the quarter. Last year at this time, the company had $97 million of net borrowings. This represents a $255 million improvement in the company's net cash position year-over-year at the end of Q2."

Fewer shoppers visited B&N stores and spent slightly less on their purchases.

The company will update its full-year earnings forecast around October 1, after the purchase of Barnes & Noble College closes.

A full transcript of B&N executives' conference call with analysts is available at Seeking Alpha.

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Book theme song of the day: Entertainment Weekly featured Frank Portman's theme song for his new novel, Andromeda Klein. Portman, author of King Dork and member of the punk band, the Mr. T Experience, "is incorporating a big musical element into [Andromeda Klein's] August 25 launch." He recorded two tracks to help promote the book, including 'Andromeda Klein,' which he calls 'a theme song' for the title character.

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NPR's Morning Edition featured Nancy Pearl's recommendations for "Mysteries You Might Have Missed Along the Way."

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The Guardian reported that a collection of unpublished letters from members of the Bloomsbury Group is expected to fetch up to £80,000 (US$132,100). The letters will be sold by Gorringes Auctioneers in Lewes, East Sussex, September 3.

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In Malaysia, reading is threatened by disinterest and pricing. Bernama.com reported that "Malaysians only read two books a year (based on the 2005 National Library study), and increasing readership in the country continues to be an uphill battle. The reading habit, or the lack of it, has been partly blamed time and again on the high prices of both imported and local books."

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Sarah Burningham, associate director of marketing at HarperStudio, is leaving her position to pursue her own writing--she is the author of How to Raise Your Parents and Boyology--as well as to launch Little Bird, a boutique publicity and marketing firm. She has already begun building a clientele. For more information, go to littlebirdpublicity.com.

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Effective September 8, Jessica Wiener is joining HarperStudio as marketing director. She is currently marketing director at Hyperion and Voice.