IRL AUTHOR SIGNING: Bottom of the Pyramid with Nia Sioux - January 25 @ 5-7 PM
Celebrate the release of Bottom of the Pyramid by Nia Sioux!
EVENT DEETS
When: Wednesday, October 9 @ 5-7 PM CST
Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin Street, HTX, 77004)
How: RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your copy of Bottom of the Pyramid. Each RSVP WITH BOOK allows entrance of one person.
Please note that copies of the book that were not purchased from Kindred Stories will not be allowed in the venue
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Young dancer Nia Sioux was only nine years old when she stepped into stardom as one of the original cast members of Lifetime’s reality TV show Dance Moms. Nia learned new choreography week after week and competed against dancers from across the country as well as at her own studio. Perhaps her greatest obstacle was suffering through her dance teacher’s ranking of the girls against each other in her infamous pyramid, where Nia spent the majority of her time on the bottom—all in front of an audience of millions.
But there was much that viewers didn’t see. How her experiences in the studio went far beyond what made it into the show. How she was ostracized for not fitting into an aesthetic that wasn’t designed for girls like her. How her friendships and her mental health crumbled under the strain of the show. How she lost control of her story and her voice.
But don’t be fooled—this is a story about resilience. Nia is not looking for pity, sympathy, or validation as she reflects on her experiences. Instead, she is choosing to use her story as a celebration of triumph. Nia finally gets to tell her story in her own way and in her own words. In this captivating memoir, Nia reclaims both the spotlight and her narrative.
In addition to going behind the scenes of the seven seasons of Dance Moms, she shows how she fought against the negative perceptions that dominated her tween and teen years and emerged as a confident young woman secure in her talents and her direction. Anyone who has ever felt misunderstood, overlooked, or stuck at the bottom of the pyramid will be inspired by Nia’s story of overcoming. “Despite barriers and constant naysayers, assumptions and criticisms, only you know who you are inside and out,” Nia says. “And you have the power to create your own narrative, your own level of success.”
IRL AUTHOR SIGNING: Jax Freeman and Phantom Shriek with Kwame Mbalia - October 9 @ 4 -6 PM
Celebrate the newest book from Freedom Fire, Jax Freeman and Phantom Shriek!
EVENT DEETS
When: Wednesday, October 9 @ 4 -6 PM CST
Where: 2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004
How: RSVP ONLY to let us know you're stopping by or RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your copy
ABOUT THE BOOK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kwame Mbalia is a #1 New York Times best-selling author and the publisher of Freedom Fire, an imprint of Disney Hyperion devoted to stories about the Black diaspora by Black creators. His debut middle-grade novel, Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, was awarded a Coretta Scott King Author Honor, and it was followed by Tristan Strong Destroys the World and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching. Kwame lives with his wife and children outside Raleigh, North Carolina, where he is currently working on the next Jax Freeman adventure. For more information, go to www.KwameMbalia.com.
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER
Nia "N.E." Davenport is the award-winning author of the adult fantasy novels "The Blood Trials" and its sequel "The Blood Gift." She is also the author of the YA speculative thriller "Out of Body," which is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, and forthcoming YA fantasy romance "Love Spells Trouble." She attended the University of Southern California and studied Biological Sciences and Theatre. She has an M.A. in Secondary Education, taught secondary English and Science for several years, and designs English/Language Arts curriculum for school districts across the US. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys vacationing with her family, being a huge foodie, and talking about binge-worthy TV, fun movies, and killer books.
IRL Author Signing: The Queer Girl is Going to Be Okay with Dale Walls - December 23 @ 1PM CST
Pull up on us to meet Dale Walls and get a signed copy of The Queer Girl is Going to Be Okay!
EVENT DEETS
When: Saturday, December 23 at 1 PM
Where: Kindred Stories (2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004)
How: RSVP to reserve your copy of the book!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Texas native, Dale Walls' debut novel checks all the Gen Z marks - tenderness, tropes, and timeliness - and that makes sense because they wrote the first version while attending High School in Houston
Queer Love. Something Dawn wants, desperately, but does not have. But maybe, if she can capture it, film it, interview the people who have it, queer love will be hers someday. Or, at least, she'll have made a documentary about it. A documentary that, hopefully, will win Dawn a scholarship to film school. Many obstacles stand in the way of completing her film, but her best friends Edie and Georgia are there to help her reach her goal, no matter what it takes. A touching and joyous story of queer friendship and girlhood set in the vibrant city of Houston, THE QUEER GIRL IS GOING TO BE OKAY will make you laugh, make you cry, and make you believe that eventually, everything will be okay.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dale Walls is the author of the forthcoming novel The Queer Girl Is Going to Be Okay. They are currently a graduate student at Stanford University studying art history. When not writing, they can be found creating educational videos about POC artists on their YouTube channel, Art in Color.
IRL Author Talk & Cocktail Class: Watermelon & Red Birds with Nicole A. Taylor and Chef Vicky V-June 23 @ 7:00 PM CST
Celebrate the release of Watermelon & Red Bird Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteeth & Black Celebrations with James Beard Award nominated food writer and chef Nicole A. Taylor!
Event DEETS:
When: Thursday, June 23 @ 7:00 PM CST
Where: Assembly HTX (2015 Berry Street, HTX 77004)
How: Space is limited. Tickets With Book includes all the necessary materials for cocktail class. Ticket Without Book is for the author talk and materials/supplies for cocktails.
About the Book
On June 19, 1865, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston and issued General Order Number 3, informing the people of Texas that all enslaved people were now free. A year later, in 1866, Black Texans congregated with music, dance, and BBQs—Juneteenth celebrations.
All-day cook-outs with artful salads, bounteous dessert spreads, and raised glasses of “red drink” are essential to Juneteenth gatherings. In Watermelon and Red Birds, Nicole puts jubilation on the main stage. As a master storyteller and cook, she bridges the traditional African-American table and 21st-century flavors in stories and recipes. Nicole synthesizes all the places we’ve been, all the people we have come from, all the people we have become, and all the culinary ideas we have embraced.
Watermelon and Red Birds contains over 75 recipes, including drinks like Afro Egg Cream and Marigold Gin Sour, dishes like Beef Ribs with Fermented Harissa Sauce, Peach Jam and Molasses Glazed Chicken Thighs, Southern-ish Potato Salad and Cantaloupe and Feta Salad, and desserts like Roasted Nectarine Sundae, and Radish and Ginger Pound Cake. Taylor also provides a resource to guide readers to BIPOC-owned hot sauces, jams, spice, and waffle mixes companies and lists fun gadgets to make your Juneteenth special. These recipes and essays will inspire parties to salute one of the most important American holidays, and moments to savor joy all year round
About the Author
Nicole A. Taylor (@foodculturist) is a James Beard Award-nominated food writer, master home cook, and producer. She has written for the New York Times, Bon Appétit, and Food & Wine. Nicole is the author of The Up South Cookbook and The Last O.G. Cookbook. She is the executive producer of If We So Choose, a short documentary about the desegregation of an iconic southern fast food joint. Nicole is the co-founder of The Maroon, a marketplace and retreat house focused on radical rest for Black creatives. She lives in New York City and Athens, Georgia, with her husband and son.
About the Moderator
Chef Vicky V (@thequeenofyum) is a United States-based, Houston native Chef Consultant/FoodStylist/Influencer/Media Producer/ & Black Restaurant Liaison. Chef Vicky V is the powerhouse for food media and championing people to expand their palates while living life beyond the stereotypes! Chef Vicky V garnered professional training in Philadelphia at JNA Institute of Culinary Art. After moving back to Houston she has successfully navigated as a food media personality. She has recently centered in on the Food & Travel/ and Unique brand forward recipe development.
Chef Vicky V has rebranded herself as the Queen of Yum in 2020 with a powerful engine of followers she calls the “yumcrumb” behind her! She has
worked with many Regional and National brands to create delicious, colorful, beautifully aesthetic food media with engagement reaching in the multiple of millions.
IRL Author Talk + Cocktails w/ Kwame Onwuachi
Join Kindred Stories and ChópnBlọk for a special author talk and book signing with James Beard Award-winning chef Kwame Onwuachi in celebration of the release of his first cookbook, My America, on the Skylawn at the Post Houston. Specialty cocktails and bites will be available for purchase from ChópnBlọk.
EVENT DEETS:
When: Thursday, June 2 at 8:00 PM
Where: The Skylawn at the Post Houston, 401 Franklin Street, Houston TX, 77201
How: Register for a ticket only for free (limited quantity available) or purchase your ticket with a copy of My America.
*Only books purchased from Kindred Stories will be eligible for the signing line. Support the work of Indie bookstores:-)
*Your book will be available for pick up at the event on June 2. If you are unable to attend and pick up your book, you will be responsible for paying for shipping from our store within 30 days, otherwise your book will be donated to an HISD classroom or library.
*Sorry, but this purchase is ineligible for returns, exchanges, or refunds.
We hope you can join us!
ABOUT THE BOOK:
What is American food? In his first cookbook, Kwame Onwuachi the acclaimed author of Notes from a Young Black Chef, shares the dishes of his America; dishes that show the true diversity of American food.
Featuring more than 125 recipes, My America is a celebration of the food of the African Diaspora, as handed down through Onwuachi's own family history, spanning Nigeria to the Caribbean, the South to the Bronx, and beyond. From Nigerian Jollof, Puerto Rican Red Bean Sofrito, and Trinidadian Channa (Chickpea) Curry to Jambalaya, Baby Back Ribs, and Red Velvet Cake, these are global home recipes that represent the best of the patchwork that is American cuisine. Interwoven throughout the book are stories of Onwuachi's travels, illuminating the connections between food and place, and food and culture. The result is a deeply personal tribute to the food of "a land that belongs to you and yours and to me and mine."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
KWAME ONWUACHI is a James Beard Award-winning chef, who was raised in the Bronx, Nigeria, and Louisiana. A former contest and now a recurring judge on Top Chef, Onwuachi has been named Esquire’s Chef of the Year, one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs, and a 30 Under 30 honoree by both Zagat and Forbes. He trained at the Culinary Institute of America and opened five restaurants before turning thirty. Onwuachi is the author of Notes from a Young Black Chef. JOSHUA DAVID STEIN is a Brooklyn-based author and journalist. He is the co-author of Notes from a Young Black Chef, with Kwame Onwuachi; Il Buco: Stories and Recipes with Donna Lennard; and The Nom Wah Cookbook with Wilson Tang and the author of Cooking for Your Kids.
IRL Author Talk with Wallo + Slim Thug
IRL Author Talk-What She Missed with Liara Tamani-June 17 at 3PM CST
Sixteen-year-old Ebony Jones is devastated when both of her parents lose their jobs, and her family moves from Houston to her grandmother’s house in the country. There’s nothing for Ebony in Alula Lake, Texas. So She Thinks. What She Missed is a rich and emotional novel that celebrates change, nature, friendship, growing up, and love, for readers of Sarah Dessen’s The Rest of the Story and Elizabeth Acevedo’s Clap When You Land.
When Ebony and her parents move from Houston to her grandmother’s house in a small lake town, Ebony is sure that her life is doomed. And to make matters worse, the ghost of Ebony’s beloved grandmother—a strong swimmer who tragically drowned in the lake—is everywhere. Alula Lake does offer one perk: reconnecting Ebony with her childhood friend, Jalen.
But as Ebony settles into life, she finds herself drifting away from Jalen and gravitating to his older sister, Lena. Lena is chaotic, disorderly, and rebellious, yet she offers a reprieve from the anger and sadness Ebony feels over losing so much.
An ode to nature, art, friendship, history, family, and love, this lyrical coming-of-age story explores one girl’s summer of self-discovery as she reimagines the world and her place in it.
Liara Tamani lives in Houston, Texas. She is the author of the acclaimed young adult novels Calling My Name, All the Things We Never Knew, and What She Missed. Her words have appeared in Time Magazine, NPR, and The New York Times. And her work has been featured by Good Morning America, Buzzfeed, Essence Magazine, Teen Vogue, and more. Before becoming a writer, she attended Harvard Law School and worked as a marketing coordinator for the Houston Rockets & Comets, production assistant for Girlfriends (TV show), home accessories designer, floral designer, and yoga and dance teacher. She holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a BA from Duke University. www.liaratamani.com
J. Elle is the New York Times bestselling author of young adult and middle-grade fantasy fiction and a 2022 NAACP Image Award Nominee for Outstanding Literary Work for Youth and Teens. Her work is being translated and distributed in over fifteen countries. The former educator credits her nomadic lifestyle and humble inner-city beginnings as inspiration for her novels. When she’s not writing, Elle can be found on the hunt for desserts without chocolate, looking for any excuse to get dressed up, and road-tripping her way across the country with her family of six plus four pets in tow.
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Bones at the Crossroads with LaDarrion Williams - August 10 @ 5:30 PM
Celebrate the release of Bones at the Crossroads with LaDarrion Williams!
EVENT DEETS
When: Sunday, August 10 @ 5:30 PM
Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St #2, Houston, TX 77004)
How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming.
You must purchase a copy of Bones at the Crossroads to join the signing line.
ABOUT THE BOOK
It's Homecoming season at Caiman University, and all 17-year-old Malik Baron wants to do is be a regular college student…or as regular as he can get at a magical HBCU for young, Black Conjurers. He’s ready to go to parties, hang out with his new friends, choose a major, and talk to girls. Instead, he's reeling from a summer of revelations, heartbreak and betrayal, and still uncovering the truth about his powers and his legacy.
The family he only just discovered is already fractured beyond repair, and a new relative who shows up on his doorstep brings even more questions. Then there’s the mother he risked everything to find, who might be the biggest threat to the life he's trying to build. To protect his new community, Malik joins an elite secret society with roots in ancient magic.
His journey takes him even deeper into his own heritage and the history of the magical world, while bringing him closer to a classmate whose friendship might mean something more, if Malik is ready to let her in. But how can he use powers he can’t even control to defend a world he’s not sure will ever fully accept him? And as the pressure and danger builds, will he be able to confront the deepening cracks within the magical society, and those building within himself?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hailing from the small town of Helena, Alabama, LaDarrion Williams is a self-taught playwright, filmmaker, author, and screenwriter committed to shaping a new era of Black fantasy. His theatrical work has garnered attention at notable venues, including the Echo Theatre Playwrights Lab, the Great Plains Theatre Conference in Omaha, TSU’s Black and Latino Playwrights Festival, and the Boise Contemporary Theater BIPOC Playwrights Festival.
An esteemed alum of the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, LaDarrion’s play Hurt People was selected for the 2024 conference, further solidifying his place as a bold and necessary voice in contemporary theater. His play Coco Queens was featured in the 2019 Sundance Institute’s Playwriting Intensive, won the New Works@theWorks Playwriting Award, and celebrated its world premiere at Playhouse on the Square in July 2024.
His Jeff Award-nominated play Boulevard of Bold Dreams—a poignant exploration of Hattie McDaniel’s historic Oscar win—debuted at TimeLine Theatre Company in Chicago, had its East Coast Premiere at Greater Boston Stage Company in March 2023, and was part of the Orlando Shakes Theater Signature Series in October 2023, with plans for national productions in 2024-2025.
Beyond theater, LaDarrion has directed three short films featured on YouTube and made his mark as a debut author with Blood at the Root, a New York Times and USA Today Bestseller. Through storytelling across multiple mediums, he continues to craft narratives that amplify Black voices, history, and imagination.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Janaya Britton is a Dallas native turned Houstonian. Coining herself as a “professional cool girl”, Janaya is forging her path by honoring her passions, creating art + working in spaces that uplift the Black community, and advocating for self-expression. She currently works as a fashion/lifestyle content creator, host, model, singer-songwriter, and the Social Media Manager for Kindred Stories.
She graduated from Texas Southern University in 2022 with a Bachelor’s in Radio, TV, and Film. At TSU, she served as On-Air talent at KTSU2, started a fashion blog “Mommy’s Lil Militant", and became a Spring '20 initiate of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
After noticing the lack of support from the school’s counseling center, she created a self-love/mental health organization, Me-lationship, during her freshman year of college--garnered over 100 members before becoming an official campus org.
Now, her star is shining brighter than ever-- from developing the first large-scale digital + on-site Black influencer campaign for the Broccoli City Music Festival in Washington, D.C., to creating content for brands like Walmart and Hot Topic.
She hopes to continue growing as a media personality + artist and preserve her family’s historical legacy at the Lott-Canada School, American Legion Post #818, and the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in Beeville, Texas.
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Coloring with Coco: Rest and Reflect with Andrea Ballo - November 4 @ 7PM
Celebrate the release of Coloring with Coco: Rest and Reflect with Andrea Ballo!
EVENT DEETS
When: Tuesday, November 4 @ 7PM
Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)
How: RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming.
*There will be a coloring station available before the event and during the signing, with provided markers and coloring sheets
ABOUT THE BOOK
Celebrate the beauty, confidence, and style of Black women with this empowering coloring book, designed to inspire rest, reflection, and creativity. With illustrations by Andrea Ballo, the founder of The Coco Michele Illustrations brand, this coloring book is perfect for self-care or as a thoughtful gift, offering a relaxing space to color and embrace your true self. Andrea Ballo began making coloring books as an ode to her inner child, who never saw herself reflected in the coloring books that she enjoyed.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrea Ballo is the founder of Coco Michele Illustrations. After nearly a decade in the retail buying industry, Andrea left her corporate job to pursue her passion for the arts. Andrea founded Coco Michele in 2018 with the mission to make the black woman the protagonist of her work - celebrating their beauty, values, and accomplishments. Andrea has built an audience of over 900K engaged members across her social platforms and her content brings in well over 1M monthly impressions. Coloring with Coco: Rest and Reflect, is her first published book. Coloring with Coco: Sisterhood in Solidarity, will be released in January.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Safon Floyd is executive editor at Callisto Publishing, an imprint at Sourcebooks. Prior to joining Callisto Publishing, she was the digital editor at Black Enterprise Magazine and editor for the Girl Scouts of the USA. She hosts monthly book club, Books & BS, and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Cord Swell with brittny ray crowell - January 7 @ 7PM
Celebrate the release of CORD SWELL with brittny ray crowell!
EVENT DEETS
When: Wednesday, January 7 @ 7PM
Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)
How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming.
ABOUT THE BOOK
How can we memorialize our dead? How can that memorialization rend the veil between the dead and the living? In her debut volume, brittny ray crowell sifts through decades of obituaries, journals, and other ephemera to exhume the generations of her family from her hometown of Texarkana, Texas. She preserves her relatives’ stories in writing and in works of collage, a style of archive that layers the past and the present literally and poetically.
This unique approach transforms Cord Swell into an altar, an artistically enshrined space where crowell communes with the past and looks to the future. The title poem, in which crowell speaks to an aunt who passed away, poignantly asks, “if there’s any such thing / as paradise . . . / better than the warmth / of your neck . . . / how close am i / to that context of space?” Her question acts as a provisional thesis statement for this collection, a poetic attempt to reveal, redress, and interpret those who came before her, especially in the absence of physical traces. Each poem imagines ways to access family members who have died and calls out to ancestors crowell never met.
In the process, crowell demonstrates capacious syntactical range, nimbly leaping from haibun to erasure poems, interviews to sonnets. She also invents forms she calls “grooves,” which are structured as album tracklists. These techniques marry form with meaning, echoing the voices of lost loved ones in indelible verse. Rhapsodic, inventive, and ambitious, Cord Swell establishes crowell as one of the most creative and dynamic new voices in poetry.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
brittny ray crowell is an assistant professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, where she teaches courses in poetry and composition. She is a recipient of the Inprint Donald Barthelme Prize in Poetry and the Lucy Terry Prince Prize. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Aris Kian (she/her) is a Houston enthusiast and student of abolition. Her poems are published with Button Poetry, West Branch, Obsidian Lit, and elsewhere. As an Inprint C. Glenn Cambor Fellow, she received her MFA from the University of Houston. Her team Smoke Slam coached by Ebony Stewart ranked #1 at the 2025 Bigfoot Regional Poetry Slam and #1 at the 2024 Southern Fried Poetry Slam. She previously served as the 2023-2025 Houston Poet Laureate and was chosen as a 2025 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellow.
IRL Author Talk: How to Be a (Young) Antiracist with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone - Feb 2 @ 6:30 PM
IRL AUTHOR TALK: A Harlem Wedding with Tiffany L. Warren - June 28 @ 5:30 PM
Celebrate the release of A Harlem Wedding with Tiffany L. Warren! This special author talk will include an evening tea and light bites.
EVENT DEETS
When: Sunday, June 28 @ 5:30 PM
Where: 2310 Elgin St Houston, TX 77004
How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming*
Please note outside copies of A Harlem Wedding will not be allowed in the bookstore and you will not be eligible for the signing/photo line. You must buy a book from Kindred Stories.
ABOUT THE BOOK
From The Unexpected Diva author Tiffany Warren—a dishy and dramatic novel of the Harlem Renaissance and its most famous Black debutante, Yolande Du Bois, daughter of W.E.B. Du Bois, whose spectacular wedding to poet Countee Cullen was the society event of the year...even though the bride and groom were not-so-secretly in love with other people.
A century ago, Harlem’s glittering social scene had a single princess: Yolande Du Bois, the only child of N.A.A.C.P. icon W.E.B. Du Bois. Yolande was bold, vivacious, and beloved of every gossip columnist. A true daddy’s girl, Yolande followed her father’s advice on everything: from where she went to college (Fisk—Papa’s alma mater) to which sorority she joined (Delta Sigma Theta). But in matters of the heart, Yolande and her father did not agree. Dr. Du Bois himself curated a string of handsome suitors from the “Talented Tenth” for her, but Yolande’s true love was jazz musician Jimmie Lunceford, son of a working-class family from far-off Denver, Colorado. Their romance was an open secret, and more than a little scandalous.
Despite it all, Yolande wound up marrying her father’s choice: famed poet Countee Cullen. Their lavish uptown wedding was the hottest social ticket of 1928. With three thousand attendees, sixteen bridesmaids, and Langston Hughes as a groomsman, it was truly a sight to behold.
But, immediately after the wedding, Yolande’s carefully constructed fairy tale begins to crumble. Torn between the expectations of her father and society and her heart’s true desire, Yolande is forced to decide whether she must leave Harlem to create a more authentic life on her own terms.
A Harlem Wedding is a heady read about love, notoriety, Black excellence, deception, and the très chic lifestyles of the Black elite, from speakeasies of Harlem and the green fields of Fisk University, all the way to Le Grand Duc in Paris.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tiffany L. Warren is a novelist and screenwriter who has published over thirty novels. In addition to writing books, Tiffany has written and produced multiple musicals for the stage, as well as several book to film collaborations with BET.
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER
Bianca is an educator, cultural storyteller, and passionate advocate for Black history. A native Houstonian, she grew up in the city’s historic Pleasantville neighborhood and attends church in the historic 5th Ward. Communities that helped shape her deep appreciation for culture, heritage, and service. A proud graduate of Howard University, she has built a dynamic career in public education.
Deeply committed to service and sisterhood, Bianca is an active member of the Houston Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and volunteers with the Black Heritage Committee of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo amongst many other organizations. Her work in the community reflects her dedication to cultural enrichment, education, and the preservation of Black heritage.
Driven by her love of food, culture, and history, Bianca frequently shares stories of Black food traditions and the African American experience both in the U.S. and across the diaspora. A devoted reader and supporter/fan of Kindred Stories, she is drawn to narratives that illuminate the richness of Black life.
IRL Author Talk: A Little Kissing Between Friends with Chencia Higgins - May 28 @ 7PM
We're celebrating A Little Kissing Between Friends with Chencia Higgins!
EVENT DEETS
When: Tuesday, May 28 @ 7 PM
Where: Kindred Stories Reading Garden (2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004)
How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our shop.
ABOUT THE BOOK
The NYT-lauded author of D’VAUGHN AND KRIS PLAN A WEDDING is back with another witty and heartfelt novel celebrating unapologetic Black joy in all its forms. This body-positive, friends-to-lovers, lesbian romance tackles weighty topics while never losing that Chencia C. Higgins spark.
“Triumphantly Black, queer and contemporary… The dialogue snaps and shimmers.” —New York Times Book Review on D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding
Music producer on the rise Cyn Tha Starr knows what she likes, from her sickening beats in the studio to the flirty femmes she fools around with. Her ever-rotating roster has never been a problem until her latest fling clashes with Jucee, her best friend and the most popular dancer at strip club Sanity.
It makes Cyn see Jucee in a different light. One with far fewer boundaries and a lot more kissing.
Juleesa Jones makes great money dancing the early shift and spends most evenings with her son, her Sanity family or at Cyn’s house. Relationships are not high on the priority list—until she’s forced to admit that maybe friendship isn’t the only thing she wants from her bestie.
But hooking up with your ride-or-die is risky. Jucee isn’t just Cyn’s best friend—Jucee is her muse. When Cyn lays down her tracks, it’s Jucee she imagines in the club throwing it back to every note. If they aren’t careful, this could crash and burn…but isn’t real love worth it
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Chencia C. Higgins is just a girl from Texas who has made it her mission to create stories in which sassy, southern Black women are loved out loud. In 2019 she won a Romance Slam Jam Emma award for her debut paranormal romance, Janine: His True Alpha. When she isn't hunkered down in her writing cave, Chencia can be found with her nose in a book, saving recipes on Pinterest for things she'll never make, and dreaming about traveling even further south for the winter.
IRL Author Talk: A Love Song for Ricki Wilde with Tia Williams - February 20 @7 PM
Join us to celebrate Tia Williams' newest release, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde!
EVENT DEETS
When: Tuesday, February 20 @7PM
Where: STAGES (800 Rosine Street, HTX, 77019)
How: Grab your tickets! Each ticket will come with a signed copy of A Love Song for Ricki Wilde. No refunds.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In this enchanting love story from the New York Times bestselling author of Seven Days in June, a free-spirited florist and an enigmatic musician are irreversibly linked through the history, art, and magic of Harlem.
Leap years are a strange, enchanted time. And for some, even a single February can be life-changing.
Ricki Wilde has many talents, but being a Wilde isn’t one of them. As the impulsive, artistic daughter of a powerful Atlanta dynasty, she’s the opposite of her famous socialite sisters. Where they’re long-stemmed roses, she’s a dandelion: an adorable bloom that’s actually a weed, born to float wherever the wind blows. In her bones, Ricki knows that somewhere, a different, more exciting life awaits her.
When regal nonagenarian, Ms. Della, invites her to rent the bottom floor of her Harlem brownstone, Ricki jumps at the chance for a fresh beginning. She leaves behind her family, wealth, and chaotic romantic decisions to realize her dream of opening a flower shop. And just beneath the surface of her new neighborhood, the music, stories and dazzling drama of the Harlem Renaissance still simmers.
One evening in February as the heady, curiously off-season scent of night-blooming jasmine fills the air, Ricki encounters a handsome, deeply mysterious stranger who knocks her world off balance in the most unexpected way.
Set against the backdrop of modern Harlem and Renaissance glamour, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a swoon-worthy love story of two passionate artists drawn to the magic, romance, and opportunity of New York, and whose lives are uniquely and irreversibly linked.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tia Williams had a fifteen-year career as a beauty editor for magazines including Elle, Glamour, Lucky, Teen People, and Essence. In 2004, she pioneered the beauty-blog industry with her award-winning site, Shake Your Beauty. She wrote the bestselling debut novel The Accidental Diva and penned two young adult novels, It Chicks and Sixteen Candles. Her award-winning novel The Perfect Find is a Netflix movie starring Gabrielle Union. Her latest novel is New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Bookclub pick, Seven Days in June, published by Grand Central.
IRL Author Talk: Abeni's Song with Phenderson Djèlí Clark - October 2 @ 7:30 PM CST
Join us for an evening with Phenderson Djèlí Clark!
EVENT DEETS
When: Monday, October 2 @ 7:30 PM CST
Where: Kindred Stories (2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004)
How: RSVP here for your free ticket or RSVP with book to reserve your book and support our programming
ABOUT THE BOOK
Like a West African and African Diaspora-inspired Spirited Away, Abeni's Song follows a reluctant apprentice witch out of her village and into a world of spirits on a quest to save her friends. This is P. Djèlí Clark's kids' debut.
On the day of the spirits festival, the old woman who lives in the forest appears in Abeni's village with a terrible message:
You ignored my warnings. It’s too late to run. They are coming.
The old woman hasn't come to save them, only to collect one child as payment for her years of service and protection. When warriors with burning blades storm the village and a man with a cursed flute plays an impossibly alluring song, everyone Abeni has ever known and loved is captured and marched toward far-off ghost ships set for even more distant lands.
But not Abeni. Abeni escapes the warriors in the clutches of the old woman, magically whisked into the forest away from all she’s ever known. And there she begins her unwanted magical apprenticeship, her journey to escape the witch, and her impossible mission to bring her people home.
Abeni’s Song is the beginning of a timeless, enchanting fantasy adventure about a reluctant apprentice, a team of spirit kids, and the town they set out to save from the evil Witch Priest who enslaved Abeni’s people.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in New York and raised mostly in Houston, P. DJÈLÍ CLARK spent the formative years of his life in the homeland of his parents, Trinidad and Tobago. He is the author of the novel A Master of Djinn, the novellas Ring Shout, The Black God’s Drums, and The Haunting of Tram Car 015, and a contributor to the #1 New York Times bestseller Black Boy Joy. He has won the Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards and been nominated for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and Sturgeon Awards. His stories have appeared in online venues such as Tor.com, Daily Science Fiction, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Apex, Lightspeed, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and in print anthologies, including Griots, Hidden Youth, and Clockwork Cairo. He is also a founding member of FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction and an infrequent reviewer at Strange Horizons.
ABOUT THE INTERLOCUTOR
Stevens is a writer, organizer, and archivist. As part of the Kindred Stories family he is the Operations & Community Facilitator, and part-time Adjunct Professor. Stevens' current work and concentration is centered around his social-political analysis and its intersections with the arts, community, and revolutionary politics.
IRL Author Talk: Ain't That A Mother with Adiba Nelson-May 4 @ 7 PM CST
Join us as we celebrate author, Adiba Nelson & the release of Ain't That A Mother!
Event Deets:
When: Wednesday, May 4 at 7:00 pm CST
Where: Kindred Stories Reading Garden--2304 Stuart Street, Houston, TX 77004
How: Limited in-person tickets are available. You have the option to grab a ticket for free or purchase the book and ticket. Only books purchased at the event will be eligible to be signed by the author.
We hope to see you there!
About the Book
Witty and bold, Afro-Latina Adiba grew up in survival mode. Her sometimes complicated relationship with her strong-willed, vibrant, religious mother marked her views of mothering and love. When a chance encounter with a tall-ish, brown-skinned brotha at Ruby Tuesday's right before closing time collided with a Jill Scott song and the right time of the month, Adiba found herself unexpectedly pregnant. She also found herself unexpectedly falling into the same relationship patterns of the matriarchs before her-the ones she swore she'd never end up in.
Mom to a new baby with high medical needs and a slew of hardships that just didn't seem to quit, she set out on a reckoning that was just as generational as it was personal. Along the way, Adiba never loses her heart or her humor. This is a true love story, but the kind about a woman loving herself enough to change the course of her life for herself, her child, and the women after her as well as before. From pasties to postpartum depression, Ain't That a Mother is not your average motherhood memoir-and Adiba is not your average mother.
The in-between moments and the self-revelations are where this bold and brilliant story of love, family secrets, and lots of "what the…?" really shines. Just like parenting, the story is messy, but the reward is incredibly satisfying.
About the Author
Adiba Nelson writes about inclusion and her life as a Black mother, woman, and daughter. She wrote her 2013 children’s book, Meet ClaraBelle Blue, after searching fruitlessly for a children’s book that adequately and appropriately represented her Afro-Latinx daughter with special needs. The subject of the Emmy Award– winning documentary The Full Nelson, Adiba is a highly acclaimed speaker and in 2017 delivered a TEDx talk to a sold out house on what to do when life throws you a curveball. As the curveballs keep coming, Nelson continues to write.
IRL Author Talk: An Autobiography of Skin with LaKiesha Carr - March 1 at 6:30 PM CST
Join us as we celebrate The Autobiography of Skin with debut author, LaKiesha Carr!
EVENT DEETS
When: Wednesday, March 1 at 6:30 PM CST
Where: Kindred Stories Reading Garden (2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004)
How: RSVP to secure your seat or RSVP with book to support the author and Kindred Stories. Only books purchased from Kindred Stories will be eligible for the signing line.
ABOUT THE BOOK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LAKIESHA CARR graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and received her MFA at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was awarded a Maytag Fellowship for Excellence in Fiction and a Jeff and Vicki Edwards Post-graduate Fellowship in Fiction. A journalist and writer from East Texas, she has held various editorial and production positions with CNN, The New York Times, and other media.
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER
Kendra Allen was born and raised in Dallas, Tx. She loves laughing, leaving, and writing. Some of her other work can be found in, or on, The Paris Review, High Times, The Rumpus, and more. She's the author of poetry collection The Collection Plate and essay collection When You Learn the Alphabet, which won the 2018 Iowa Prize for Literary Nonfiction. Fruit Punch, her memoir, is out now.
IRL Author Talk: Autobiomythography of with Ayokunle Falomo - September 12 @ 7 PM CST
Celebrate the release of Autobiomythography of with Ayokunle Falomo!
EVENT DEETS
When: Thursday, September 12 @ 7 PM
Where: Kindred Stories (2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004)
How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming
ABOUT THE BOOK
Autobiomythography of sifts through Nigerian stories and mythologies, both inherited and invented, to explore the self, family, and nationhood.
In an attempt at decolonization, it is an exploration of what it means to be a subject—a person, yes, but also a literary subject—in the wake and afterlife of colonization. Intimate and personal, it is interested in figuring out how to wrest subjectivity—one’s notion of self—from this failed project of modernity.
As the title suggests, the book spans and swirls together autobiography, mythology, biography, history (shared and personal), and geography. Amidst myriad speakers in the collection, there is a prominent speaker who, in search of his self/voice, tries on multiple voices—including Frederick Lugard’s—and other personas: some closer to who/what he is, whatever that is, and others diametrically opposite.
Tangentially, this is a book about a son's relationship with his father. Poem after poem, the speakers interrogate the perceptions of identity, reality, and ownership, and in the pursuit of Truth they erode the boundaries between fact and fiction to show us the fragility of the lines we draw in service to these abstractions, of the beliefs we hold about them, of the acts we perform in service to them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
AYOKUNLE FALOMO is Nigerian, American, and the author of Autobiomythography of (Alice James Books, 2024), AFRICANAMERICAN’T (FlowerSong Press, 2022), two self-published collections and African, American (New Delta Review, 2019; selected by Selah Saterstrom as the winner of New Delta Review’s 8th annual chapbook contest). A recipient of fellowships from Vermont Studio Center, MacDowell, and the University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program, where he obtained his MFA in Creative Writing—Poetry, his work has been anthologized and widely published
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
IRL Author Talk: Barracoon: Adapted for Young Readers with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi - February 3 @ 1 PM CST
Join us along with ACLU Texas and the Houston Public Library in celebrating Barracoon: Adapted for Young Readers: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo"!
EVENT DEETS
When: Saturday, February 3 at 1 PM CST
Where: 500 McKinney Street, HTX, 77002
How: To get your free ticket, please use the following link on the Houston Public Library website. If you would like to donate to support our programming, check out by adding this product to your cart!
ABOUT THE BOOK
In the first middle grade offering from Zora Neale Hurston and Ibram X. Kendi, young readers are introduced to the remarkable and true-life story of Cudjo Lewis, one of the last survivors of the Atlantic human trade, in an adaptation of the internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed Barracoon.
This is the life story of Cudjo Lewis, as told by himself.
Of the millions of men, women, and children transported from Africa to America to be enslaved, 86-year-old Cudjo Lewis was then the only person alive to tell the story of his capture and bondage—fifty years after the Atlantic human trade was outlawed in the United States. Cudjo shared his firsthand account with legendary folklorist, anthropologist, and writer Zora Neale Hurston.
Hurston spent months talking with Cudjo about the details of his life. Cudjo recounted memories from his childhood in Africa, the horrors of the raid of his village, being captured and held in a barracoon for sale by human traders, and the years he spent in slavery until the end of the Civil War.
Adapted with care and delivered with age-appropriate historical context by award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi, Cudjo’s incredible story is now available for young readers and emerging scholars. With powerful illustrations by Jazzmen Lee-Johnson, this poignant work is an invaluable contribution to our shared history and culture.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Ibram X. Kendi is a National Book Award–winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author. His books include Antiracist Baby; Goodnight Racism; How to Be an Antiracist; and How to Raise an Antiracist. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University and the director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. In 2020, Time magazine named Kendi one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He has also been awarded a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship.
Zora Neale Hurston was a novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist. She wrote four novels (Jonah’s Gourd Vine, 1934; Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937; Moses, Man of the Mountains, 1939; and Seraph on the Suwanee, 1948); two books of folklore (Mules and Men, 1935, and Every Tongue Got to Confess, 2001); a work of anthropological research, (Tell My Horse, 1938); an autobiography (Dust Tracks on a Road, 1942); an international bestselling nonfiction work (Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo,” 2018); and over fifty short stories, essays, and plays. She attended Howard University, Barnard College, and Columbia University and was a graduate of Barnard College in 1928. She was born on January 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama, and grew up in Eatonville, Florida.
IRL Author Talk: Beasts of Ruin with Ayana Gray & J. Elle- July 26 @ 7:00 PM CST
Event DEETS:
When: Tuesday, July 26, 2022 @ 7:00 PM CST
Where: Assembly HTX (2015 Berry Street, HTX 77004)
How: Limited in person seating available. You can grab a ticket only or get a book with your ticket. Only books purchased from Kindred Stories will be eligible for the signing line.
About the Book
Koffi has saved her city and the boy she loves, but at a terrible price. Now a servant to the cunning god of death, she must use her newfound power to further his continental conquest, or risk the safety of her home and loved ones. As she reluctantly learns to survive amidst unexpected friends and foes, she will also have to choose between the life—and love— she once had, or the one she could have, if she truly embraces her dangerous gifts.
Cast out from the only home he’s ever known, Ekon is forced to strike new and unconventional alliances to find and rescue Koffi before it’s too late. But as he gets closer to the realm of death each day, so too does he draw nearer to a terrible truth—one that could cost everything.
Koffi and Ekon—separated by land, sea, and gods—will have to risk everything to reunite again. But the longer they’re kept apart, the more each of their loyalties are tested. Soon, both may have to reckon with changing hearts—and maybe, changing destinies.
About the Author
Ayana Gray is a New York Times bestselling young adult fantasy author and a lover of all things monsters, mythos, and magic. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, she now lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she reads avidly, follows Formula One racing, and worries over the varying moods of her adopted baby black rhino, Apollo, and her mini goldendoodle, Dolly. Her debut novel, Beasts of Prey, is being adapted for feature film.
About the Moderator
J. Elle is the author of the instant New York Times and Indie bestseller Wings of Ebony, a YA novel about a Black teen who must lean into her ancestor’s magic to protect her inner-city community from drugs, violence, and crime. Ms. magazine calls it “the debut fantasy we need right now.” She also wrote its sequel, Ashes of Gold. Elle is a former educator and first-generation college student with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s in educational administration and human development. When she’s not writing, Elle can be found mentoring aspiring writers, binging reality TV, loving on her three littles, or cooking up something true to her Louisiana roots.
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Behind the Waterline with Kionna LeMalle - April 8 @ 7PM
Celebrate Kionna Walker LeMalle's debut novel, Behind the Waterline!
EVENT DEETS
When: Tuesday, April 8 @ 7PM
Where: Kindred Stories (2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004)
How: RSVP ONLY to let us know you are coming or RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your copy of Behind the Waterline.
NOTE: There are limited free RSVP ONLY tickets. Please be sure that you can make the event before checking out. Additionally, copies of the book from Behind the Waterline from other retailers will not be allowed
ABOUT THE BOOK
Behind the Waterline takes readers to the home of a teenager and his grandmother in a New Orleans neighborhood on the eve of Katrina, where there are few resources and little warning of what is about to happen, in this novel that mixes magical realism with reality.
When Hurricane Katrina approaches New Orleans, teenaged Eric and his grandmother and many of their neighbors decide to ride out the storm. Kionna Walker LeMalle’s masterful debut novel brings her readers, like the rising water, onto Eric’s street in the Third Ward, where stranded dogs bark for a time, where neighbors are floating on doors, and where Eric and his grandmother must take refuge in his second floor bedroom. After days of heat, dwindling supplies, and relentless rising water, neighbors begin to disappear and Eric’s grandmother, already known as an eccentric, begins to falter. It is then that Eric—in a dream, a hallucination, or something else—discovers a room beyond his closet wall, a place he has never seen. What he discovers inside will send him on a path to discover secrets to survival, bitter progress, and, ultimately, the history of his own people—those he sorely misses and those he never even knew.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kionna Walker LeMalle is an executive writer for the University of Houston-Downtown and has taught writers at Houston’s Writers in the Schools and Houston Christian University. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Education from Xavier University of Louisiana, a Master of Education degree from the University of New Orleans, and her MFA from Houston Christian University. She was born and raised in New Orleans, LA, and lives in Houston, TX, with her family. Behind the Waterline is her debut novel.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
ReShonda Tate is the national bestselling author of more than 50 books, including her latest The Queen of Sugar Hill, based on the life of Hattie McDaniel. Her novel, Let the Church Say Amen, was made into a film directed by actress Regina King, and produced by TD Jakes and Queen Latifah. Her book, The Secret She Kept, was also made into a TV One movie starring Kyla Pratt. ReShonda made appearances in both movies. She wrote a movie, Christmas with my Ex, which will run on TV One this winter.
A well-respected journalist and former TV News Anchor, ReShonda is currently Managing Editor for the Defender Newspaper and also works as a professional editor, ghostwriter, and literary consultant.
A highly sought-after motivational speaker and award-winning poet, ReShonda is the recipient of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature.
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Bemused with Farrah Rochon - February 8 @ 1 PM
Farrah Rochon
Celebrate the release of BeMused with Farrah Rochon!
EVENT DEETS
When: Saturday, February 8th @ 1 PM
Where: 2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004
How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming*
ABOUT THE BOOK
The untold origin story of the 5 Muses from Disney’s Hercules is revealed in this rollicking YA fantasy filled with mythical adventure, music, and the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood.
The Muses narrated Hercules’s story. Now, in this novel for fans of the New York Times bestsellers Go the Distance and Fire & Fate, they’ll narrate their own “gospel truth.”
Living in a quiet seaside village with their overprotective mother, teenaged sisters Calliope, Clio, Melpomene, Terpsichore, and Thalia are talented performers with no audience. If Calli had her way, she’d pursue her dream of writing epic stories in the city of Thebes. But family comes first, and as the eldest, she’d never leave her beloved sisters behind.
Then, following a disastrous public music performance, their mother reveals a shocking secret: she is Mnemosyne, the Goddess of Memory, and for nearly two decades, she’s been on the run from the gods of Mount Olympus, desperate to keep her daughters safe from their mother reveals a shocking secret: she is Mnemosyne, the Goddess of Memory, and for nearly two decades, she’s been on the run from the gods of Mount Olympus, desperate to keep her daughters safe from their machinations. Before she can share more, she is kidnapped . . . and though the girls don’t know it yet, the villain pulling the strings is none other than Hades, fiery God of the Underworld.
Under Calli’s leadership, the sisters embark on a journey to save their mother and to learn more about their own divine origins. But the path ahead is filled with mythical trials and tribulations, and they’ll need to rely on both their individual talents and the strength of their sisterhood to ensure that they ascend from “zeroes” to “heroes”–or more accurately, heroines.
Penned by New York Times bestselling author Farrah Rochon, this YA fantasy uniquely blends a twist on a Disney classic with a fresh take on Greek mythology.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A native of south Louisiana, New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Farrah Rochon officially began her writing career while waiting in between classes in the student lounge at Xavier University of Louisiana. After earning her Bachelor of Science degree from Xavier and a Masters of Arts from Southeastern Louisiana University, Farrah decided to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a published novelist. Farrah's books have been featured in O, The Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, Buzzfeed, NPR, The Washington Post, and many more.
When she is not writing in her favorite coffee shop, Farrah spends most of her time reading, traveling the world, hanging around on Twitter, visiting Disney World, and trying to attend as many Broadway shows as her budget will allow. An admitted sports fanatic, Farrah feeds her addiction to football by watching New Orleans Saints games on Sunday afternoons.
Farrah is represented by Evan Marshall of the Evan Marshall Literary Agency.
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Big Girl Blitz with Danielle Allen - April 20 @ 7 PM
Celebrate the release of Big Girl Blitz with Danielle Allen!
EVENT DEETS
When: Monday, April 20 @ 7PM
Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)
How: RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming.
or
Signing Line Only (Entry at 8:05 PM): These tickets do not include access to the author talk. This will allow immediate entry at 8:05 PM where will be able to get a copy of Big Girl Blitz signed and get a photo with the author.
*Please note outside copies of the book will not be allowed in the bookstore and you will not be eligible for the signing/photo line. You must buy a book from Kindred Stories.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Because life’s too short, and mean girls ain’t sh…
Jazmyn Payne fled her hometown―and the fatphobes who made her life hell– the minute she graduated high school. Growing up, her haven was her Aunt Addison, and when her health takes a drastic turn, she insists that Jazz should spice up her life. Emphasis on spice.
But dating is the last thing Jazz had on her mind.
Until Lamar Anderson sits next to her at the local sports bar. He is sexy, fun, and refreshingly drama free. With him she's able to pretend that everything is alright. But as real life intrudes, Jazz has to decide if she can leave the past where it belongs… for a love that she deserves.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Danielle Allen is the USA Today bestseller of Curvy Girl Summer, in additon to being an educator, and life coach. Living authentically has been the key to her living her best life. With a background in social sciences, helping people better understand themselves so they can become the best version of themselves is one of her passions. Writing contemporary romance novels that aims to change the status quo of the genre is another.
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNERS
Alexandra Warren
Alexandra Warren is a contemporary romance author with over thirty works to date, all of which intentionally center Black love. She is also the co-founder of Girl, Have You Read…, a digital platform dedicated to Black romance written by Black authors.
When she’s not in front of her computer, she enjoys traveling, spending time with family, watching sports, and clearing her DVR. Alexandra is a proud native of Omaha, Nebraska, but she currently calls Houston, Texas home.
Monica Walters
Romance author, Monica Walters, is best known as the queen of country hood love stories. As an Amazon best-selling author, Monica has always had a passion for creating different worlds with words. The first country hood love story, 8 Seconds to Love, led to a string of novels highlighting country living, from rodeos to ranches, but with the characters maintaining the urban dialect that readers love from her.
Monica has several awards under her belt, cementing her place in the romance genre, one of those being the 2023 AAMBC Romance Author of the Year. She was also awarded Best Series from Girlfriends Unfiltered in 2023 for The Berotte Family Series, earning her respect from her peers as a prominent series writer.
Monica was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas, but she now resides in Nome, Texas where most of her country stories take place. Besides being a wife and mother, attaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology has only helped her become a better writer, understanding characters and their complex personalities.
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Bitter Honey with Lolá Ákínmádé - November 6 @ 7:30 PM
Celebrate the release of Bitter Honey with Lolá Ákínmádé!
EVENT DEETS
When: Thursday, November 6 @ 7:30 PM
Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St., #2, Houston, TX 77004)
How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Spanning four decades and three continents, Bitter Honey is a story about a mother and daughter divided by long buried secrets, struggling to understand each other as they forge their own paths, from the internationally bestselling author of In Every Mirror She’s Black.
1978: A scholarship draws Nancy from Gambia’s warmth into Stockholm’s frigid winter. When her friendship with charismatic scholar Lars blossoms into something more, she thinks she may have finally found her place. But there’s more to Lars than his charming persona, and Nancy is about to discover the danger of being drawn into his world…
2006: Tina has had her taste of fame as Sweden’s sweetheart pop princess, representing her country at Eurovision. But beneath her glittery façade, she’s uncertain who she really is. Her mother, Nancy, seems desperate to keep the past under wraps, but will the unexpected appearance of Tina’s father—a man she has long thought dead—help open the door to self-discovery?
Nancy just wants to protect her daughter from making the same mistakes she did, but Tina longs for the freedom to mess up, knowing her mother will always be there to support her. The two women love each other unconditionally, but can they learn to trust each other as well?
This poignant novel delves deep into the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters and delivers a warm, heartfelt story of love, forgiveness, and women finding their voices.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nigerian-American Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström is an award-winning travel writer, speaker, photographer, and author of the international bestseller In Every Mirror She’s Black and Everything Is Not Enough. She is based in Stockholm.
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER
Antonia Adams is an educator, avid reader, and proud Houstonian. She runs the platform BlackGirlThatReads, which aims to connect a wide range of readers with books by Black women. When she is not reading, she spends her time traveling to visit museums and bookstores across the country.
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Black Chameleon: Memory, Womanhood & Myth with Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton & Delita Martin- March 7@ 7PM CST
Join us for the official launch event of Black Chameleon: Memory, Womanhood & Myth with author, Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton and artist, Delita Martin.
Event DEETS
When: March 7, 2023 at 7PM CST
Where: Project Row House Community Gallery (2521 Holman Street, HTX 77004)
How: Please RSVP reserve your spot. Checkout for RSVP with Book to support our store and the author/artists.
About Black Chameleon
In the literary tradition of Carmen Maria Machado’s In the Dream House, Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, and Jesmyn Ward’s Men We Reaped, this debut memoir confronts both the challenges and joys of growing up Black and making your own truth.
Growing up as a Black girl in America, Deborah Mouton felt alienated from the stories she learned in class. She yearned for stories she felt connected to—true ones of course—but also fables and mythologies that could help explain both the world and her place in it. What she encountered was almost always written by white writers who prospered in a time when human beings were treated as chattel, such as the Greek and Roman myths, which felt as dusty and foreign as ancient ruins. When she sought myths written by Black authors, they were rooted too far in the past, a continent away.
Mouton writes, “The phrases of my mother and grandmother began to seem less colloquial and more tied to stories that had been lost along the way. . . . Mythmaking isn’t a lie. It is our moment to take the privilege of our own creativity to fill in the gaps that colonization has stolen from us. It is us choosing to write the tales that our children pull strength from. It is hijacking history for the ignorance in its closets. This, a truth that must start with the women.”
Mouton’s memoir is a song of praise and an elegy for Black womanhood. With a poet’s gift for lyricism and poignancy, Mouton reflects on her childhood as the daughter of a preacher and a harsh but loving mother, living in the world as a Black woman whose love is all too often coupled with danger, and finally learning to be a mother to another Black girl in America. Of the moment yet timeless, playful but incendiary, Mouton has staked out new territory in the memoir form.
About Deborah DEEP Mouton
Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton is an internationally known writer, educator, activist, and performer and the first Black poet laureate of Houston, Texas. She was formerly ranked the #2 Best Female Performance Poet in the World (PSI). Her recent poetry collection, Newsworthy, garnered her a Pushcart nomination, was named a finalist for the 2019 Writers’ League of Texas Book Award, and received an honorable mention for the Summerlee Book Prize. Its German translation, under the title Berichtenswert, was released in Summer 2021 by Elif Verlag. The opera Marian’s Song, for which she wrote the libretto, debuted in 2020.
About Delita Martin
Delita Martin is an artist currently based in Huffman, Texas. She received a BFA in drawing from Texas Southern University and an MFA in printmaking from Purdue University. Formerly a member of the fine arts faculty at UA Little Rock in Arkansas, Martin currently works as a full-time artist in her studio, Black Box Press. Martin’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. Most recently Martin’s work was included in the State of the Arts: Discovering American Art Now, an exhibition that included 101 artists from around the United States. Her work is in numerous portfolios and collections.
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Black Girls Breathing with Jasmine Marie - February 6 @ 7PM CST
Jasmine Marie
Celebrate the release of Black Girls Breathing with Jasmine Marie!
EVENT DEETS:
When: Thursday, February 6th @ 7PM
Where: Hogan Brown Gallery, 2310 Elgin St, HTX, 77004
How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming
ABOUT THE BOOK:
As a Black woman, Jasmine Marie knows the impact that intergenerational trauma and systemic racism have had—and continue to have—on her community. Those experiences, along with her own journey through chronic stress, are why she created black girls breathing®, a movement dedicated to helping Black women understand the power of the mind‑body connection and its impact on their holistic health, one breath at a time.
In Black Girls Breathing, Jasmine Marie offers you the power of breathwork, and the revolutionary nature of slowing down and turning inward. With each intentional breath, you’ll learn how to sink deeper into your body to begin to undo the trauma that’s long been stored. Sharing exercises from her unique somatic philosophies proven by data and utilized by tens of thousands of participants to date, Jasmine Marie will also help you:
This is a long-overdue resource for every Strong Black Woman—the woman ready to break cycles of trauma, heal the internalized beliefs of perfectionism and conditional self‑worth, and follow the wisdom of her inner voice.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jasmine Marie is a speaker, breathwork practitioner, and founder of black girls breathing®, a wellness platform that provides Black women with tools to heal trauma in the body and reduce chronic stress and anxiety. An alum of NYU Stern School of Business, Jasmine Marie’s work has been featured in Good Morning America, VOGUE, Forbes, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Glamour, Nylon Mag, Black Enterprise, Oprah Magazine, Well + Good, Wall Street Journal, Bust Magazine, Goop, MindBodyGreen, Refinery29, Pix11 NY, The Cut, FoxSoul, Cosmopolitan, and PopSugar Fitness, among others.
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER:
Raveen Johnson is a Wellness Writer, Registered Yoga Teacher, Journaling Workshop Guide and a deep advocate for Mental/Emotional Health.
Raveen has been hosting journaling workshops in Houston since 2016, and has since expanded the offering locally and internationally. She offers the practice of journaling as a form of expression that supports mental, emotional and even physical healing. The intention is to be able to use our words in ways that compassionately support the lives that we desire for ourselves.
Raveen's yoga journey began in 2016 as a student. The practice re-introduced her to herself in way that was more empowering, strong and gracious than before. Raveen knew she wanted to effectively share the practice with others so she received her 200HR-RYT certification in 2020 at BIG Power Yoga in Houston, Texas. Four years later in 2024, Raveen received another 200HR certification under the guidance of Sarah Montross and Gioconda Parker so that she could further expand her knowledge and practice of yoga.
Journaling and yoga offer a relationship with ourselves and others that is loving, accepting and trustworthy; these are important ingredients in the recipe of following your gut and being present to your life. Raveen is delighted to use these tools to support the mental, spiritual and physical aspects of your personal healing journey.
IRL Author Talk: Black Roses with Harold Green III & Sherhara- March 22 @ 7:00 PM CST
Join us as we celebrate the release of Black Roses by Harold Green III at the Houston Museum of African American Culture.
Event Deets:
When: Tuesday, March 22 at 7:00 pm CST
Where: Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC)-4807 Caroline Street, Houston, Texas, 77004
How: Limited in-person tickets are available. Book purchase required with entry.
About the Book
Black Roses is a love letter to the underrepresented women that inspire and uplift author and poet, Harold Green III. After going viral on Instagram for these beautiful poems, Green assembled BLACK ROSES, a stunning collection of his odes and artist Melissa Koby’s stunning, full-color illustrations.
With poems on figures such as Ava DuVernay, Janelle Monae, Issa Rae, Kamala Harris, Lizzo, Misty Copeland, Robin Roberts, Roxane Gay, and Simone Biles, BLACK ROSES reflects the diversity of Black female excellence. Divided into five sections—dedicated to advocates, curators, innovators, luminaries, and trailblazers—Green’s odes and Koby’s portraits highlight a range of women.
About the Author
Harold Green III is an ever-evolving and internationally admired artist. Using poetry as his central art form, he is a highly sought-after talent, bandleader, and event producer. He earned the prestigious Carl Sandburg Literary Award for his self-published debut poetry collection From Englewood, with Love. He has created commissioned work in partnership with major brands and organizations, including Nike, Lululemon, Jordan, and Go
About the Moderator
Sherhara Downing the CoFounder and Chief Visionary Officer of SpeakHaus, a training and professional development company dedicated to transforming business and thought leaders into confident and bold speakers. SpeakHaus is the first in the public speaking industry to provide mobile in-person group coaching that goes directly to the homes of leaders, jumpstarting speaking transformation in one workshop.
With over 16 years of coaching and corporate training experience, Sherhara has elevated the speaking skills of leaders from companies like Under Armour, Capital One, Toyota, AT&T and more.
She has a deep passion for facilitating human connection and cultivating community! She loves tacos and remains the world-leading subject matter expert of the cult classic, Coming to America!
IRL Author Talk: BLK MKT Vintage with Jannah Handy & Kiyanna Stewart in conversation with Amarie Gipson
Celebrate the release BLK MKT Vintage with Jannah Handy & Kiyanna Stewart!
EVENT DEETS
When: Thursday, October 24 @ 7 PM
Where: Eldorado Ballroom (2310 Elgin Street, HTX, 77004)
How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming.
This event is in partnership with Project Row Houses!
ABOUT THE BOOK
This one-of-a-kind treasure trove of Black cultural ephemera, from the entrepreneurs behind the vintage shop BLK MKT Vintage, expands on their mission to curate vintage objects that tell Black stories and celebrate the contributions Black people have made to our American consciousness.
Jannah Handy and Kiyanna Stewart have spent years scouring piles, stacks, bookshelves, and dilapidated boxes in search of themselves and their history, Black history. Through their Brooklyn brick-and-mortar BLK MKT Vintage and online shop, they have uncovered tens of thousands of items including vintage literature, vinyl records, clothing, art, decor, furniture and more.
BLK MKT Vintage: Reclaiming Objects and Curiosities That Tell Black Stories invites readers into Handy and Stewart’s work and partnership as they pick, collect, curate, design, and reimagine futures for the objects of the past. Brimming with more than 300 photographs of vintage pieces of ephemera, the book is a beautiful, ephemeral object itself calling to mind a scrapbook or family album that has a surprise on every page whether that’s 1972 celluloid pins from Shirley Chisholm’s presidential campaign, early 1800’s hand-drawn maps of the African continent, or 1920’s bound yearbooks from various HBCUs. The book also explores the various concepts that ground Handy and Stewart’s work; interviews with Black archivists, artists, memory workers and collectors – including a foreword from Spike Lee; a look into their private collection of thousands of items they have discovered over the years; an explanation of the different players in the antiques and vintage world; and tips and tricks on how to begin your own collection and curate physical spaces that reflect your identity and experience.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jannah Handy and Kiyanna Stewart are the co-founders of BLK MKT Vintage, an online vintage/antique concept shop that specializes in collectibles and curiosities, representing the richness of black history and lived experience. Their passion for material culture and found objects has led them to interior design projects, personal sourcing, set design, prop rental, museum loans and other curatorial projects in media/entertainment, education, the arts & philanthropy. Jannah has a background in business and education, with a B.A. in Economics from Smith College, and a M.Ed. in Higher Education from UMASS, Amherst. Kiyanna has a background in fashion & education, with a B.A. in Journalism & Africana Studies and a M.A. in Women's Studies, all from Rutgers University
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER
Amarie Gipson is a Houston-born writer, cultural worker and founder of The Reading Room HTX. She has held curatorial positions at various art institutions, including The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Independently, her writing has been published in ARTS.BLACK, Artforum, ArtNews, ESSENCE, Oxford American and many others. As a DJ, Gipson has made a significant impact on her hometown through PHYSICAL THERAPY, a dance party and 7,000+ person community founded to foreground safety and togetherness in Houston's underground music/nightlife scene. She is the former Arts & Culture editor of Houstonia Magazine and currently the Houston Editor-At-Large for Burnaway, an Atlanta-based arts criticism publication focusing on the American South and the Caribbean. Advancing a new model for librarianship and public institution building, The Reading Room is increasing access to cultural history through literature and programming. It is a community-centered tribute to Black genius in the South and beyond.
IRL Author Talk: Blood at the Root with LaDarrion Williams - August 24 @ 4PM
Celebrate the release of Blood at the Root with LaDarrion Williams!
EVENT DEETS
When: Saturday, August 24 @ 4PM CST
Where: Kindred Stories (2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004)
How: RSVP ONLY to save your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our programming.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Ten years ago, Malik's life changed forever the night his mother mysteriously vanished and he discovered he had uncontrollable powers. Since then, he has kept his abilities hidden, looking out for himself and his younger foster brother, Taye. Now, at 17, Malik is finally ready to start a new life for both of them, far from the trauma of his past. However, a daring act to rescue Taye reveals an unexpected connection with his long-lost grandmother: a legendary conjurer with ties to a hidden magical university that Malik’s mother attended.
At Caiman University, Malik’s eyes are opened to a future he never could have envisioned for himself— one that includes the reappearance of his first love, Alexis. His search for answers about his heritage, his powers, and what really happened to his mother exposes the cracks in their magical community as it faces a reawakened evil dating back to the Haitian Revolution. Together with Alexis, Malik discovers a lot beneath the surface at Caiman: feuding covens and magical politics, forbidden knowledge and buried mysteries.
In a wholly unique saga of family, history and community, Malik must embrace his legacy to save what's left of his old family as well as his new one. Exploring the roots and secrets that connect us in an unforgettable contemporary setting, this heart-pounding fantasy series opener is a rich tapestry of atmosphere, intrigue, and emotion.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LaDarrion Williams is a Los Angeles based-playwright, filmmaker, NYT bestselling author, and screenwriter whose goal is to cultivate a new era of Black fantasy, providing space and agency for Black characters and stories in a new, fresh and fantastical way. He is currently a resident playwright/co-creator of The Black Creators Collective, where his play UMOJA made its West Coast premiere in January 2022 and produced North Hollywood’s first Black playwrights festival at the Waco Theater Center. Blood at the Root is his first novel.
IRL AUTHOR TALK: boy maybe with W. J. Lofton - April 30 @ 7PM
Celebrate W. J. Lofton's debut poetry collection, boy maybe!
EVENT DEETS
When: Wednesday, April 20 @ 7 PM
Where: Kindred Stories (2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004)
How: RSVP ONLY to let us know to expect you or RSVP WITH BOOK to secure your copy of boy maybe: poems!
ABOUT THE BOOK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
W.J. Lofton has earned fellowships from Cave Canem and Emory University. His work has been featured or is forthcoming in TIME, wildness, Obsidian, Scalawag, Academy of American Poets’ Poem-A-Day, American Poets Magazine, Prose to the People, No Justice, No Peace: From the Civil Rights Movement to Black Lives Matter, and film festivals nationwide.
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Briefly Perfectly Human with Alua Arthur - April 29 @ 7PM
Celebrate the paperwork release of Death Doula, Alua Arthur's book, Briefly Perfectly Human!
EVENT DEETS
When: Tuesday, April 29 @ 7PM
Where: Kindred Stories (2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004)
How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your copy of Briefly Perfectly Human. If you already have a hardcover copy of Briefly Perfectly Human and you would like to get your book signed, please use the RSVP WITH SIGNING option.
Note: There are limited RSVP ONLY tickets. Please be sure that you can attend before checking out. Additionally, paperback copies of Briefly Perfectly Human will not be allowed in the venue.
ABOUT THE BOOK
For her clients and everyone who has been inspired by her humanity, Alua Arthur is a friend at the end of the world. As our country’s leading death doula, she’s spreading a transformative message: thinking about your death—whether imminent or not—will breathe wild, new potential into your life.
Warm, generous, and funny AF, Alua supports and helps manage end-of-life care on many levels. The business matters, medical directives, memorial planning; but also honoring the quiet moments, when monitors are beeping and loved ones have stepped out to get some air—or maybe not shown up at all—and her clients become deeply contemplative and want to talk. Aching, unfinished business often emerges. Alua has been present for thousands of these sacred moments—when regrets, fears, secret joys, hidden affairs, and dim realities are finally said aloud. When this happens, Alua focuses her attention at the pulsing center of her clients’ anguish and creates space for them, and sometimes their loved ones, to find peace.
This has had a profound effect on Alua, who was already no stranger to death’s periphery. Her family fled a murderous coup d’état in Ghana in the 1980s. She has suffered major, debilitating depressions. And her dear friend and brother-in-law died of lymphoma. Advocating for him in his final months is what led Alua to her life’s calling. She knows firsthand the power of bearing witness and telling the truth about life’s painful complexities, because they do not disappear when you look the other way. They wait for you.
Briefly Perfectly Human is a life-changing, soul-gathering debut, by a writer whose empathy, tenderness, and wisdom shimmers on the page. Alua Arthur combines intimate storytelling with a passionate appeal for loving, courageous end-of-life care—what she calls “death embrace.” Hers is a powerful testament to getting in touch with something deeper in our lives, by embracing the fact of our own mortality. “Hold that truth in your mind,” Alua says, “and wondrous things will begin to grow around it."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times bestselling author Alua Arthur is the most visible and active death doula working in America today. She is a recovering attorney and the founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization. Her TED Talk titled, “Why Thinking About Death Helps You Live a Better Life,” went online in July 2023 and has already received 1.5 million views. A frequent guest on TV and radio, Arthur has been featured on CBS’s The Doctors and in Disney's Limitless docu-series with Chris Hemsworth, as well as in national print media outlets, such as Vogue, InStyle, the Los Angeles Times, The Cut, The New Yorker, and the New York Times. International newspaper features on Arthur include Brazil’s Estadão and Norway’s Årets Avis. She has appeared on dozens of podcasts, and a Refinery29 video feature on Arthur and her work received ten million views across social platforms. She travels the country and world as a keynote speaker, addressing audiences of several hundred to several thousand people at medical and end-of-life conferences, universities, seminaries, senior citizens’ communities, and more.
IRL AUTHOR TALK: Chichi and Didi Love Their Names with Peace Amadi - September 20 @ 12PM
Celebrate the release of Chichi and Didi Love Their Names with Peace and Ndidi Amadi!
EVENT DEETS
When: Saturday, September 20 @ 12PM
Where: 2310 ELGIN ST, HOUSTON, TX 77004
How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our store programming.
*Note that books not purchased from Kindred Stories are not allowed in the venue.*
ABOUT THE BOOK
Nigerian American sisters Chichi and Didi are ready for the first day of school! But after Chichi is teased for her “different” name, she comes home feeling discouraged.
Daddy and Mama tell the sisters the stories behind their names, helping Chichi return to school with her head held high.
Inspired by the childhood experiences of real-life sisters Peace Amadi and Ndidi Amadi, Chichi and Didi Love Their Names will teach readers:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Although most people now know Peace Amadi by her middle name, her first name is Chinyere and she is the real-life Chichi. Peace is a psychology professor, author, and speaker, and her work lies at the intersection of mental health, faith, and culture.
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