Barnes Noble Bookstores Inc

The girl in the photograph is the archetypal kid sister. No more than 12, her body is a boy's, but her face is pure woman. The contrast is so intense that you almost don't notice: She's wearing a defiant gaze and nothing else. The photograph is alluring, arresting, fine art in the eyes of many. But in Alabama and South Carolina and Colorado and elsewhere, it's the ultimate indecency.

Barnes & Noble Inc., looking ahead to the next chapter in digital publishing, took the wraps off an electronic book reader, dubbed "nook." Anyone who has read Dr. Seuss' "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" will recall Theodor Geisel's Nook who took a look at the book on a hook. For Barnes & Noble's $259 device, the hook is its ability to let users lend their books to their friends for up to 14 days at a time. Using the LendMe feature, nook owners can send a copy of their digital titles to their friends' iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry or computer.

Barnes & Noble Inc., the country's largest bookseller, said Friday that it agreed to buy Ingram Book Group, the country's largest book wholesaler, for $600 million in a move that immediately raised antitrust questions, since other retailers would be forced to compete against and be a customer of Barnes & Noble. The deal, involving $400 million in Barnes & Noble stock and $200 million in cash, puts rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Borders Group Inc.

Barnes & Noble Inc., which withdrew from the nascent digital book market in 2006, said Monday that it had reentered the growing field and launched "the world's largest e-bookstore." The New York retailer, which operates 777 stores in the U.S., boasted that its online bookshop has more than 700,000 titles. Included in the tally are about half a million books in the public domain and available as free downloads via a partnership with Google Inc.

Whatever former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky bought at one Washington bookstore is irrelevant to the investigation of her relationship with President Clinton, a federal judge has ruled. The store, Barnes & Noble, will not be forced to turn over records sought by independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr, U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson wrote in a court order made public Friday.

A grand jury indicted the nation's largest bookseller, Barnes & Noble, on child pornography charges involving the sale of books by noted photographers whose work includes pictures of nude children. State Atty. Gen. Bill Pryor said Wednesday that he started the investigation after receiving complaints about two books: "The Age of Innocence" by French photographer David Hamilton and "Radiant Identities" by San Francisco photographer Jock Sturges.

The market for books in Spanish, already among the most promising in the publishing industry, is about to get a lot bigger. Barnes & Noble Inc. is adding thousands of books to its Spanish language sections. The chain is expected to announce the expansion and other initiatives today. "I'm thrilled," said Rene Alegria, editorial director of Rayo, the Spanish language imprint of HarperCollins.

Barnes & Noble Inc. said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose 37% to $89 million, or $1.27 a share, from $64.9 million, or 90 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 29% to $1.33 billion. That beat estimates. Guide to Our Staff: Need to reach Business section reporters or editors? A guide to the section's staff can be found at http://www.latimes.com/bizstaff.

* Barnes & Noble Inc. agreed to acquire J.B. Fairfax International USA Inc., a niche publisher that includes Michael Friedman Publishing Group, a publisher of coffee table books. Terms were not disclosed.

Barnesandnoble.com Inc.'s shares fell as much as 16% on Tuesday on news that regulators may oppose Barnes & Noble Inc.'s purchase of wholesaler Ingram Book Group, which was intended to help the bookseller's Internet business compete with Amazon.com Inc., analysts said. The shares fell $3.06, or 14%, to close at $20, on Nasdaq. Stock in Barnes & Noble, the largest U.S. bookseller, fell $1.19 to close at $27.38 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Barnes & Noble Inc. reported that it lost $2.7 million in the first quarter as its sales continued a multi-quarter slide, but the results beat Wall Street expectations and the bookseller raised its profit forecast for the year. New York-based Barnes & Noble's $2.7-million loss amounts to 5 cents a share, compared with a loss of $2.2 million, or 4 cents, a year earlier. Excluding the effect of discontinued operations, the company lost 4 cents a share, better than the loss of 15 cents analysts expected.

Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle and his Yucaipa Cos. private-equity firm reported an 8.3% stake in Barnes & Noble Inc., the world's largest bookseller, and may seek talks with the company. Burkle intends to monitor Barnes & Noble's performance and consider the option to discuss strategic opportunities with the company's board or executives, according to a regulatory filing Friday.

Barnes & Noble Inc. reported a larger-than-expected loss for its fiscal third quarter and gave little indication that the holidays would be much brighter. The New York-based bookseller said significantly lower customer traffic and spending at its stores drove down profit. It reduced its sales and earnings forecasts for the rest of the year, even though the holiday season is traditionally a strong time for the company. Barnes & Noble reported a loss of $18.4 million, or 34 cents a share, in the quarter ended Nov. 1 compared with a profit of $4.4 million, or 7 cents, a year earlier.

Barnes & Noble Inc. posted a 15% drop in second-quarter profit to $15.4 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with $18.05 million, or 26 cents, a year earlier. Sales slipped 1.6% to $1.22 billion.

A sluggish book market and intense competition from rivals such as Amazon.com and Costco Wholesale Corp. are forcing the nation's top two booksellers -- Barnes & Noble Inc. and Borders Group Inc. -- to rewrite the rules on the book business. Their challenges were revealed as both merchants reported disappointing fourth-quarter results Thursday.

Barnes & Noble Inc., the nation's largest bookseller, forecast profit and sales for this fiscal year that were well below analysts' estimates, sending its shares down 11% on Monday. The New York-based retailer reaffirmed its earnings guidance for the year ended Feb. 3 despite disappointing sales. It also said it was closing its Internet distribution center located in Memphis, Tenn.

Barnes & Noble Inc., the largest U.S. bookseller, warned that fiscal fourth-quarter earnings will be lower than expected because of disappointing holiday sales. The New York-based company said it projects earnings of $1.30 a share for its book segment for the quarter ending this month, compared with Wall Street's expectations of $1.46. It said it expects its video game segment to earn 6 cents, sharply lower than market expectations of 33 cents.

Bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. said Tuesday that it received a subpoena from the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York requesting documents on its stock option practices. Barnes & Noble is one of more than 80 companies that say they are being investigated in a quickly spreading scandal over stock options. The operator of the bookstore chain said it received the subpoena Friday, making the statement in a brief regulatory filing.