A recent survey indicates that the average number of books read annually per capita has declined in each of the last three years. However, it also found that most bookstores reported increased profits during the same period.
I'm thinking either the total population has increased or the bookstores have put in some work

(A) Recent cutbacks in government spending have forced public libraries to purchase fewer popular contemporary novels.
Libraries have fewer new books. People want those books. People buy those books. Logical. Hopefully the others are worse cause this looks solid.

(B) Due to the installation of sophisticated new antitheft equipment, the recent increase in shoplifting that has hit most retail businesses has left bookstores largely unaffected.
the recent increase means that this has likely occurred within the past 3 years. Installing antitheft equipment may prevent the kind of shoplifting that happened in bookstores before, but it's not a strong and explicit connection. Keep B for now.

(C) Over the past few years many bookstores have capitalized on the lucrative coffee industry by installing coffee bars.
The initial information doesn't state that bookstores have made more money from books, but have simply made greater profits. They could sell heroin for all we care. Fortunately, they have only sold coffee. Logical. B

(D) Bookstore owners reported a general shift away from the sale of inexpensive paperback novels and toward the sale of lucrative hardback books.
Fewer total books, but a greater profit from each of them. Good business strategy. Logical. B

(E) Citing a lack of free time, many survey respondents indicated that they had canceled magazine subscriptions in favor of purchasing individual issues at bookstores when time permits.
Magazines aren't books. Book sales at bookstores may have declined, but could be outweighed by magazine sales. Logical. B

Not sure why it's not A - libraries still do purchase from book stores.

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

(B) Paradox (All EXCEPT)

Don’t predict the right answer to a Paradox EXCEPT question; instead, summarize the paradox in your own words before going to the answer choices. The discrepancy in this stimulus is signaled by the word “however,” so let’s get the gist of it: the average number of books read per capita has decreased, but bookstores have reported an increase in profits. Since this is a Paradox EXCEPT question, four of the answers will explain this discrepancy, and will therefore need to be eliminated. We don’t want to waste too much time trying to make predictions in this instance, so we should instead keep our discrepancy in mind as we head to the answer choices.

(A) If libraries haven’t been able to purchase as many popular contemporary novels, readers may have been forced to purchase them on their own at bookstores. So even though they may be reading fewer books on average, they’ll be purchasing those books themselves instead of checking them out from libraries. Eliminate.

(B) would explain why bookstores may have seen higher profits relative to other retail businesses, but that isn’t the paradox that needs resolution. Since (B) doesn’t explain how bookstores are making more money even though people seem to be reading less, this must be the odd man out—and therefore the answer we need to select.

(C) indicates that bookstores aren’t making more money by selling books, but by selling lots of coffee. This certainly resolves the discrepancy. Eliminate.

(D) Bookstores can sell fewer books and still earn more profits if they start selling books that are much more expensive than those sold previously. This explains how fewer books read per person can still lead to more money for bookstores. Eliminate.

(E) offers up yet another alternative source of income for bookstores—magazine sales. If bookstores are selling more magazines than they were previously, these stores can see increased profits even if people aren’t reading as many books. Eliminate.

Yes, agreed. Still, One purchase to a library, especially that of a new novel, will cater to n number of readers. But if that many number of users purchase it due to the lack of availability of the same in the library, the bookstore profit increases.
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