In The Store

Check out our ever-changing displays and special offers below for more examples of the titles we carry, and if you’d like some reading recommendations, be sure to consult our Staff Picks!

DECEMBER DISPLAYS: Please scroll down to see this month’s in-store displays!

BUNDLES ARE A BARGAIN! These lovingly curated collections of staff picks are 20% OFF (subject to availability). Please note, the discount is available only when you purchase from the store; this discount is not available online.

Stephen’s “Deadly Thrillers for Dad” Bundle: Rogue Male + Army of Shadows + Last Days.

Annar’s “Gurlesque Poetry” Bundle: The Hounds of No + Some Girls Walk Into the Country They Are From + A Sand Book.

Tracey’s “Dazzling Debuts” Bundle: The President Shop + Abundance + The Discomfort of Evening.

December 2022

Let us make holiday shopping a breeze with our curated selection of books that make perfect gifts!

We also have a display featuring one of Joe’s top picks for dark humor, Kingsley Amis.

And check out our selection of splendid titles from Nightboat Books, a nonprofit organization that seeks to develop audiences for writers whose work resists convention and transcends boundaries.

November 2022

November is Native American Heritage Month, and we have a brilliant selection of prose and poetry by Indigenous authors.

Johannes Göransson and Joyelle McSweeney are the editors of Indiana-based Action Books, an indie press that aims to produce transnational, interlingual, feminist, political work that “believes in historical avant-gardes and unknowable dys-contemporary discontinuous occultly continuous anachronistic avant-gardes!”

It’s the perfect time of year to curl up with a good mystery… and we have an entire circle of suspenseful reads laid out for you!

September 2022

We had a wonderful time at ArmadilloCon 2022 and now we have a very generous post-convention deal for you—a fabulous selection of science fiction, fantasy, and horror titles at 20% OFF!

August 2022

August is Women in Translation Month. This annual celebration of women writers from around the world, writing in languages other than English, was launched by Meytal Radzinski in 2014 and now has a prominent presence in indie bookstores around the world.

Check out our display of titles from Small Beer Press, a Massachusetts-based indie publisher founded in 2000 and run by Gavin J. Grant and Kelly Link.

Archipelago Books is a not-for-profit press devoted to publishing translations of classic and contemporary world literature—in their first fifteen years, they brought out nearly two hundred books from more than thirty-five languages! We have a great selection of their titles on display at the moment.

July 2022

Check out our display of titles from Dorothy, A Publishing Project, an award-winning feminist press headquartered in St. Louis and dedicated to championing “works of fiction or near fiction or about fiction.”

Malvern Books is proud to support Writers For Democratic Action, a group that aims to bring the literary community together to protect democracy, demand racial and economic justice, and champion suffrage. We’re taking part in their Book The Vote campaign to register voters before the 2022 midterm elections—as sites for voter registration and education, bookstores are poised to become the frontline of a campaign to sustain our democracy. Stop by the store to check out our Book The Vote display and ask us more about it.

June 2022

Check out our display of Beat Generation titles, featuring the excellent Pocket Poets Series from City Lights Publishers.

We’re thrilled to offer a range of titles from Valancourt Books, an independent small press located in Richmond, Virginia. They specialize in the rediscovery of rare, neglected, and out-of-print fiction.

June is Pride Month, and we have a wonderful selection of titles that explore the LGBTQ experience.

You can check out our Staff Favorites below or via our bookshop.org list… there’s nothing we love more than recommending riveting reads!

Based in Brooklyn, New York, The Song Cave is a small press with a focus on poetry, translations, art criticism, and making art prints and other related materials.

May 2022

Be sure to take a look at our window display of titles from Black Ocean, an award-winning independent publisher based out of Boston. From early silent films to early punk rock, Black Ocean brings together a spectrum of influences to produce books of exceptional quality and content.

Check out our display of titles from four newly arrived publishers from small-press distributor Asterism Books: New York independent publishing house Contra Mundum Press; 11:11 Press from Minneapolis; Sublunary Editions, a small press based out of Seattle, Washington; and Inside the Castle, “a very small press focusing on difficult prose and prose poetry,” operated from Lawrence, Kansas.

Our monthly Staff Favorites are on display—and you can also read more about these fab finds on our bookshop.org site.

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and we have a wonderful selection of AAPI poetry and prose on display.

May is also Short Story Month, and our circular table is bringing you the best in pithy prose!

April 2022

We’re celebrating National Poetry Month with an eclectic display of verse, from William Carlos Williams’ classic—and seasonally appropriate—Spring and All, to contemporary collections from Oliver Baez Bendorf, Susan Nguyen, and Jessica Q. Stark, and much, much more!

As always, our monthly Staff Favorites are on display—and you can also read more about them on our bookshop.org site.

Check out our display of titles from two brilliant indie publishers, Spurl Editions, who call themselves “a publisher of unusual literature and photography,” and Rixdorf Editions, a Berlin-based press committed to bringing unfairly neglected texts of the German Empire to a contemporary English-language readership.

March 2022

Check out our table of wonders from Wakefield Press, an independent American publisher devoted to the translation of overlooked gems and literary oddities in small, affordable, yet elegant paperback editions.

March is National Women’s History Month, and we have a wonderful display of poetry and prose from iconic women writers.

Malvern Books is excited to welcome works from two UK publishers, Fairlight Books and British Library Publishing.

February 2022

Did you know we host six monthly book clubs that meet via Zoom for friendly and informal discussions? Check out our in-store display of past and current book club picks… there’s a book—and a book club!—for everyone in this eclectic collection.

January 2022

Check out our Encore display, in which we celebrate some of our favorite titles published in 2020 and 2021.

We have a wonderful selection of books from Feminist Press. Founded in 1970, Feminist Press publishes books that ignite movements and social transformation. They began as an essential publishing component of second-wave feminism, reprinting feminist classics by writers such as Zora Neale Hurston and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and they continue to publish feminist literature from around the world, by best-selling authors such as Shahrnush Parsipur, Ruth Kluger, and Ama Ata Aidoo, as well as North American writers of diverse race and class experience, such as Paule Marshall and Rahna Reiko Rizzuto.

Our bargain bundles are on display—these lovingly curated collections of staff picks are 20% OFF.

December 2021

These beautiful Santa-approved festive books make wonderful gifts…

And we also have a wide range of splendid fiction picks for all your hard-to-shop-for family members! If you’d like a recommendation, we’re always happy to help.

Happy Hanukkah! Come check out our display of wonderful books by Jewish authors, as well as Hanukkah greeting cards.

November 2021

November is Native American Heritage Month, and we have a wonderful selection of poetry and prose by Indigenous authors.

Check out our circle of Twisted Spoon picks! Founded in 1992, Twisted Spoon Press is an independent publisher based in Prague. They focus on translating into English a variety of brilliant writing from Central and Eastern Europe and making it available to a global readership.

Fancy a family saga? Reading about other people’s family dramas can be oddly cathartic…

October 2021

For an even better view of our October displays, why not make an appointment to come and take a look in person!

It’s spooky season and we have a suitably scary selection of terrifying titles for you to read, preferably under the blankets with a flashlight…

If you prefer something a little less spooky, check out our selection of cozy mysteries!

And we also have a wonderful display of award-winning and long-listed poetry and prose.

September 2021

For an even better view of our September displays, why not make an appointment to come and take a look in person!

It’s back-to-school season and we have a plethora of intriguing and entertaining campus novels to get you in a scholarly mood.

We have so many brilliant poetry and prose titles in translation on our shelves—a small circular selection is featured below!

Hispanic Heritage Month officially begins on September 15th and honors the cultures and contributions of both Hispanic and Latino Americans. We have a wonderful selection of titles that celebrate Latinx authors.

August 2021

Let’s take a look at a few of our August displays—and for an even better view, why not make an appointment to come peruse ’em in person!

Summer is the ideal time to dip into an anthology… check out our superb display below, which features, amongst other treats, French love poems, Mexican fiction, and plays from Brazil!

August is Women in Translation month, which celebrates women writers from around the world writing in non-English languages, as well as women translators (it’s said that only 3% of the books published in the U.S. are translations, and of that 3%, fewer than 30% are books written by women). Check out our brilliant selection for #WITMonth.

July 2021

We’re celebrating Christmas in July with some festive reads for summer!

And if you prefer to keep things strictly seasonal, we have some cool—and cooling—water-themed reads!

At the front of the store this month we’re showcasing a plethora of brilliant poetry and prose titles that encourage us all to stand up, speak out, and be heard.

And as always, our monthly Staff Favorites are on display—and you can also read more about them on our bookshop.org site.

June 2021

June is Pride Month (honoring the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan), and we have a fine selection of titles that explore the LGBTQ experience, including Torrin A Greathouse’s Wound from the Mouth of a Wound, a Lambda Most Anticipated LGBTQ Book; and Emily Hashimoto’s debut novel A World Between, “a celebration of identity, queer love, messy families, and the ferocity of want” (T Kira Madden).

Father’s Day is Sunday, June 20th, and we have plenty of perfect picks for Pops!

Our monthly Staff Favorites are on display at the store, and you can also read more about them on our bookshop.org site.

This month marks the 85th anniversary of the founding of New Directions, one of our favorite indie publishers, and we’re commemorating the occasion with a display of their finest titles.

May 2021

If you visit us by appointment in May, be sure to check out our display celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

We’ve been doing a lot of armchair traveling of late, and these fascinating, far-flung picks from our “Other” section make perfect travel companions!

May is also Short Story Month, and this circular table is bringing you the very best in pithy prose! Perfect shorts for shorts weather…

March 2021

If you visit us by appointment this month, take a look at this brilliant assortment of contemporary poetry and prose titles from black authors.

We’re celebrating Women’s History Month with an eclectic display of poetry and prose, from Dorothea Lasky’s fierce, quick-witted collection Milk, to Olga Tokarczuk’s award-winning novel Flights.

If you’re a fan of literature and surprises, why not go on a blind date with one of these brilliant, staff-approved books?

September 2020

You can check out our Staff Favorites below or via our bookshop.org list… there’s nothing we love more than recommending ravishing reads!

August 2020

August is Women in Translation month, and we’ve got a wonderful selection of titles on display, including Valeria Luiselli’s The Story of My Teeth, a “deeply playful novel … about the passion and obsession of collecting, the nature of storytelling, the value of objects, and the complicated bonds of family”; Kim Yideum’s Blood Sisters, a vivid and powerful portrayal of the life of a young Korean college student in the 1980s; and Sara Uribe’s Antigona Gonzalez, a lyric essay that tells the story of a young woman in Tamaulipas, Mexico, who is searching for her missing brother.

June 2020

It feels so good to be dusting off our display tables again! June is Pride Month, and we have a great selection of titles that explore the LGBTQ experience.

And when you get a chance to visit the store again, be sure to check out these fiction titles from Black LGBTQ writers.

March 2020

Bargain bundles are back! Enjoy 10% off three quintessential works of fiction from select publishers.

And in honor of Women’s History Month, a selection of thought-provoking poetry and prose titles from women authors…

February 2020

Love is in the air! From February 1st until February 15th, spend $25 and choose a free greeting card from our selected ‘love’ cards—and we also have lovely bundles of books for 10% off!

To have and to hold! Behold our display of marriage-themed fiction…

Check out our display for Black History Month, featuring a brilliant assortment of contemporary poetry and prose, including Nelson George’s To Funk and Die in LA, the fourth book in the D. Hunter crime-fiction series, and Wayétu Moore’s She Would Be King, a stunning blend of history and magical realism.

January 2020

Happy new decade! Are the ’20s on your mind? Check out our timely selection of books first published in the Roaring Twenties…

Our Stand Up, Speak Out display provides you with ongoing inspiration to resist…

December 2019

Let us make holiday shopping a breeze with our curated selection of gifts and greeting cards for the lit lovers in your life!

And for discerning Young Adult readers, a sphere of brilliant books…

November 2019

What better Thanksgiving prep than to curl up with a good ol’ family saga? Courtney Maum’s Costalegre is inspired by the real-life relationship between the heiress Peggy Guggenheim and her daughter, while The Illustrious House of Ramires by José Maria de Eça de Queirós is a wickedly funny novel centered on Gonçalo Ramires, heir to “a family so aristocratic it predates the kings of Portugal.”

Our “Other” collection includes ever so eclectic essays, plays, creative non-fiction, memoirs and more…

If you enjoyed your mysterious Summer Fling, why not try a Winter Cling?

October 2019

A beautiful circle of Nobel Prize winners for you to explore…

September 2019

Our Clear The Shelves Sale runs from Monday, September 2nd till Sunday, September 15th. We’re offering 50% off 1000+ titles, and select journals, cards, and t-shirts are on sale too! Check out some splendid sale highlights below…

This month’s Staff Favorites display features a bevy of brilliant recommendations, including Steven Dunn’s second novel, Potted Meat, which follows a young boy into adolescence in a decaying town in southern West Virginia; and Scholastique Mukasonga’s Cockroachesa compelling account of the author’s childhood in the years leading up to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Back-to-school season is upon us, and what better way to kick off a new academic year than with a display of books from UT Austin, Austin Community College, Texas State, and St. Edward’s faculty members.

August 2019

Our Staff Favorites display has some top titles to choose from right now, including Hilda Hilst’s With My Dog Eyes (which The Guardian called “literature as an assault course“), and the surrealist anthology The Milk Bowl of Feathers, which Claire discusses in this blog post.

Our sensational circle of sci-fi and fantasy titles includes the novel Man Tiger, which the Guardian calls “a supernatural tale of murder and desire [that] fascinatingly subverts the crime genre.”

It’s Women in Translation Month—check out our display, and then join us on August 17th for a Women In Translation reading with Liliana Valenzuela and Marian Schwartz.

July 2019

You know we have a whole heap of wonderful work in translation—but don’t forget to check out our “Emerging Voices” display, featuring contemporary fiction written in English.

At the front of the store this month we have a fine display of titles that will surely encourage us all to stand up, speak out, and be heard—perfect for Independence Day reading (and if you want to stop by, we’re open on July 4th from 10am – 5pm).

June 2019

June is Pride Month (honoring the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan), and we have a wonderful selection of titles that explore the LGBTQ experience.

June 16th is Father’s Day, so don’t forget to come check out our splendid selection of books and cards for the father figure(s) in your life!

And we also have a lovely display of titles from Archipelago Books, a not-for-profit press devoted to publishing excellent translations of classic and contemporary world literature.

May 2019

May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, and we have a wonderful selection of titles that explore the Asian/Pacific American experience.

If you know a mom who loves cool cards and good books, we’ve got you sorted for Mother’s Day, May 12th.

And shorts weather means… short stories! We have a great selection of splendid quick reads on display.

February 2019

Check out our display of titles from Melville House, an independent publisher located in Brooklyn, New York. MH has published books by Nobel PrizeI winners Imre Kertész and Heinrich Boll, and also prides itself on discovering talented first-time writers, such as Lars Iyer and Christopher Boucher.

And at the front of the store we have a wonderful display in honor of Black History Month.

January 2019

Check out our display of titles from Open Letter, the University of Rochester’s nonprofit literary translation press (and here’s a little something we wrote about Open Letter back in 2014).

December 2018

The festive season is upon us and we have lots of Santa-approved picks for you. (And don’t forget, from Dec 1st – Dec 24th, for every $50 you spend at Malvern Books you’ll receive a free $10 gift card!)

September 2018

It’s back-to-school season and we’re featuring work from local professors and faculty, including Deb Olin Unferth’s brilliant graphic novel I, Parrot.

Limited attention span? Short on time? Looking for a quick-but-mighty read? We’ve got you covered! Check out our Novellas display…

June 2018

Check out our display of beautiful, collectible essays from Notting Hill Editions (fun fact: Notting Hill Editions was founded by toy inventor Tom Kremer, the man responsible for popularizing the Rubik’s cube!)

It’s Pride Month! Come check out our fine display of LGBT titles, including Saeed Jones’s debut poetry collection Prelude to Bruise, winner of the 2015 Stonewall Book Award/Barbara Gittings Literature Award.

May 2018

May is Short Story Month, and our circular table is bringing you the best in pithy prose!

March 2018

The annual South by Southwest festival begins on Friday, March 9th, and we have the welcome mat table out with a fab display of SXSW-ready titles inspired by music and film.

February 2018

Check out our display for Black History Month, featuring a brilliant assortment of contemporary poetry and prose, such as Nelson George’s To Funk and Die in LA, the fourth book in the D Hunter crime-fiction series, and Khadijah Queen’s poetry collection Black Peculiar.

We also have a display devoted to works from Wakefield Press, an independent American publisher devoted to the translation of overlooked gems and literary oddities in small, affordable, yet elegant paperback editions.

And for Valentine’s Day, we have charming greeting cards, plus books “with a heart”… in the title, or on the cover—because nothing says romance like a dogged determination to take things literally!

January 2018

What lovely chaps! Come check out our impressive selection of chapbooks…

December 2017

What could be more festive than a roomful of Ruefle?! If you’re not familiar with the work of American poet and essayist Mary Ruefle, come get acquainted at Malvern Books.

November 2017

With the holidays fast approaching, it’s the perfect time to dip into a family saga… like, for instance, The Land Breakers, a riveting tale set deep in the Appalachian wilderness.

And Thanksgiving saw us lovingly assemble a collection of books that feature food, glorious food…

October 2017

We’ve lots of suitably spooky reads to help you get your fright on this Halloween.

October 9th is Indigenous Peoples’ Day… come check out Tommy Pico’s brilliant Nature Poem, a Publishers Weekly Pick of the Week.

And in honor of the announcement of this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature winner (congrats, Kazuo Ishiguro!), a display of our very own Nobel talent…


September 2017

Stand up, speak out, be heard…

August 2017

August 8th is International Cat Day—and you know we can’t resist displaying our feline favorites!

July 2017

Take a summer vacation without leaving your sofa with one of our many brilliant travel books…

And why not solve a literary mystery while you’re at it?

June 2017

We had a ton of fun putting together our display for Pride Month… come check it out!

Short on time? We have just the ticket: an entire table of brilliant short novels, including Nylund, the Sarcographera baroque noir by Joyelle McSweeney.

Father’s Day is June 18th, and we have a great selection of Dad-worthy goods!

And we have a wonderful display of titles from Brooklyn small press The Song Cave, including satirist Mitch Sisskind’s Do Not Be a Gentleman When You Say Goodnight, a collection of surreal and hilarious stories and poems.

May 2017

Short stories for shorts weather…

Memorial Day Selections…

And we have brand-spanking-new t-shirts in stock…