Mavey Books, a new bookstore in Ardmore, PA is in the business of not only selling stories, but creating them. If you are looking for a community that promotes reader relationships, look no further! Mavey Books creates a space that supports both the reader and the author, where people can get together and enjoy the art of storytelling as a community. Not only that, but it is a bookstore that represents local, self-published, and diverse authors.
“We love working closely with local authors, and currently have a host of independently published books on our shelves,” says Nadia Alawa, the owner of Mavey Books. While the booksellers have many recommendations, they emphasize reading authors who were born or live in Pennsylvania: Madeline Miller (Circe, The Song of Achilles), Nicole Wolverton (A Misfortune of Lake Monsters), and Liz Moore (Long Bright River).
Diversity is a core value at Mavey Books. Whether it is offering different genres or different voices, this bookstore wants its readers to have access to a wide variety of representation.
“As BIPOC booksellers, we instinctively knew we wanted to make a bookstore where diverse stories were represented, and form a space where everyone was welcome,” says Alawa. “Our shelves are more diverse than the average bookstore.”
Alawa and the rest of the booksellers at Mavey Books are passionate about their love of narrative, giving recommendations and posting about new releases all over Instagram (@maveybooks). “We’re book lovers before we’re booksellers – and we know that shows when readers browse our shelves. We sell what we love and what we are curious about, not what we are asked or paid to promote.”
Even if you “don’t read books” (or have a loved one that doesn’t), the booksellers at Mavey Books have recommendations that could kickstart a book club. When asked what they would recommend to those self-proclaimed “non-readers” they were able to provide a detailed list of differing styles and genres. Some of the books are:
- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
- The Wedding People by Alison Epsach
- Know My Name by Chanel Miller
Mavey Books has many opportunities to be a part of a larger book community. There are monthly book clubs to join (for romance, fantasy, horror, fiction, and nonfiction readers).
Independent Bookstore Day (April 26) and the bookstore’s birthday (April 27) are days filled with freebies and galley copies for customers!
Join them on May 12 at 7PM for a discussion with Karen Bloom Gervitz, author of The Apothecary’s Wife, in conversation with Katie Feno.
Stay tuned for more events like book swaps, book release parties, and more bookish events at maveybooks.com.
Philly Plain Dealer 
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