No Name is a Black-owned worker cooperative connecting community members both inside and outside carceral facilities with radical books. Each month, No Name uplifts two books written by Black, indigenous, and other people of color. No Name believes building community through political education is crucial for our liberation and should be accessible to everyone—which is why all programming is free. 

MEETING DEETS

When: Sunday, August 31 @ 1 PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2304 Stuart Street, HTX, 77004) 

How: Please RSVP to let us know you're attending. You can also support the store by purchasing a copy of the book here. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

A collection of essays about language and its constructive role in national culture, history, and identity, that advocates for linguistic decolonization.

'The language of literature', Ngũgĩ writes, 'cannot be discussed meaningfully outside the context of those social forces which have made it both an issue demanding our attention, and a problem calling for a resolution.' First published in 1986, Decolonising the Mind is one of Ngũgĩ's best-known and most-cited non-fiction publications, helping to cement him as a pre-eminent voice theorizing the 'language debate' in postcolonial studies.

Ngũgĩ wrote his first novels and plays in English but was determined, even before his detention without trial in 1978, to move to writing in Gikuyu. He describes the book as 'a summary of some of the issues in which I have been passionately involved for the last twenty years of my practice in fiction, theatre, criticism, and in teaching of literature...'. Split into four essays - 'The Language of African Literature', 'The Language of African Theatre', 'The Language of African Fiction', and 'The Quest for Relevance' - the book offers an anti-imperialist perspective on the destiny of Africa and the role of languages in combatting and perpetrating imperialism and neo-colonialism in African nations.

We're excited to host our very first Cookbook Club featuring California Soul!

BOOK CLUB MEETING DEETS

Quarterly, we'll gather to discuss a cookbook and share food. Yes, we expect everyone to bring a dish to the book club meeting. 

When: Sunday, August 24 @ 4:30 PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

How:  Purchase of the book is required to attend the book club meeting. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

80+ comfort-filled recipes that trace the roots of modern California soul food to the Great Migration—from the acclaimed chef and author of Brown Sugar Kitchen.

Through more than 80 seasonally inspired recipes, Tanya Holland's California Soul showcases modern soul food from the acclaimed chef of Brown Sugar Kitchen and host of Tanya's Kitchen Table. Tanya’s inventive cuisine—rooted in a Black Southern cultural repertoire with a twenty-first-century sensibility using local, sustainable, chef-driven, seasonal ingredients—is showcased in recipes for every season, such as Collard Green Tabbouleh, Zucchini–Scallion Waffles with Toasted Pecan Romesco, Grilled Shrimp and Corn with Avocado White BBQ Sauce, Fried Chicken Paillards with Arugula and Pea Shoot Salad, and Honey Lavender Chess Pie. 

The recipes—influenced by the historical migration of African American families, including Tanya’s own—reveal the key ingredients, techniques, and traditions that African Americans brought with them as they left the South for California, creating a beloved version of soul food. Beyond recipes, Tanya spotlights fifteen contemporary Black Californian foodmakers—farmers, coffee roasters, and other talented artisans—whose work help defines California soul food, with stunning portraiture and stories. Filtered through the rich history of African American migration that brought her own family from the Deep South to the West Coast, Tanya's recipes are as comforting and delicious as they are steeped in history.

Celebrate the release of Black Freedom: A Visual History of Juneteenth and Emancipation Days with Blair LM Kelley!

EVENT DEETS

When: Thursday, June 18 @ 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

*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

The first fully illustrated history of Juneteenth and other Emancipation Day celebrations, told through photographs, art, and an engrossing narrative from an award-winning historian.  
 
For more than 150 years, Black communities have gathered to honor freedom, resilience, and the ongoing struggle for true liberation. While Juneteenth has recently gained wider recognition, it was one of many Emancipation Day traditions celebrated across the United States. These observances were spaces of joy, remembrance, and resistance—even as the fight for full freedom was unfinished. This volume brings together stirring essays and striking images from Juneteenth and beyond, offering a sweeping portrait of how Black people have created and sustained rituals of remembrance, a testament to the generations who, through celebration and storytelling, demanded that their contributions to the making of America be fully recognized.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Blair LM Kelley is an award-winning author, historian, and scholar of the African American experience. She is also the president and director of the National Humanities Center, the only independent center for advanced study in the world dedicated exclusively to the humanities. Kelley is the author of Right to Ride: Streetcar Boycotts and African American Citizenship (2010) which was awarded the Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Book Prize and Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class (2023), which received the 2024 Brooklyn Library Book Award, the 2024 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Book Award, the 2024 Philip Taft Labor History Prize, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award in History. Her latest book, Black Freedom: A Visual History of Juneteenth and Emancipation Days, will be published June 2, 2026.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Melanye Price is the inaugural Director of The Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice at Prairie View A&M University. Dr. Price is an Endowed Professor of Political Science and served as the Principal Investigator for the African American Studies Initiative and the HBCU Student Voting Rights Lab. She has secured grants for the Simmons Center and her own research from various foundations including Mellon, Ford, LUMINA, and others. Price is the author of two books: The Race Whisperer: Barack Obama and the Political Uses of Race (NYU, 2016) and Dreaming Blackness:  Black Nationalism and African American Public Opinion (NYU, 2009). She is currently working on her third book project on the five decade history of voting rights activism at Prairie View.  She also served as a Special Assistant to Ruth J. Simmons in her last year as President of Prairie View.

Dr. Price completed her B.A. magna cum laude in geography at Prairie View A&M University and her MA and PhD in political science at The Ohio State University. Dr. Price was recently named the 2024 Anschutz Distinguished Fellow in the Effron Center for the Study of America at Princeton University. Price has been a Black History Month lecturer for the US Embassy in Germany where she lectured at universities and community organizations across the country. Professor Price was one of the contributors to Stanley Nelson’s documentary, Obama: Through the Fire, which aired on BET. She has been a regular contributor for The New York Times Opinion section and also done political commentary for various local and national outlets.  Dr. Price has also served as a consultant and commenter for the audio tour of two major exhibits at the Museum Fine Arts Houston—Philip Guston Now and Kehinde Wiley’s Archaeology of Silence. 
In her free time, Melanye is an avid watcher of television, supporter of all things Black and Houston, and intrepid gardener! 

We're meeting to discuss Click Mate by Tia Kelly!

BOOK CLUB MEETING DEETS

When: Tuesday, June 9 @ 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP ONLY to let us know you plan to attend! Support the Romance Book Club by purchasing a copy of the book from Kindred Stories here!

*This book is currently on PRE-ORDER and has an on sale date for April 14th. You can purchase now for your book to be picked up or shipped on April 14th. 

ABOUT CLICK MATE

We're meeting to discuss Nasty Work by Ericka Hart!

BOOK CLUB MEETING DEETS

When: Tuesday, June 16 @ 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP ONLY to let us know you plan to attend! Support the Non-Fiction Book Club by purchasing a copy of the book from Kindred Stories here!

ABOUT NASTY WORK

An award-winning sexuality educator takes down society’s deeply entrenched colonial views on sex and gender throughout history in this accessible, candid, and revolutionary exploration of how we can—and should—reclaim our minds and bodies for a more pleasurable existence for all.

When you think about sex ed, your mind likely goes back to those uncomfortable school desks and the stifled laughs of your teenage years. But what we’ve been socialized to believe about sexuality actually hinders our own pleasure well into adulthood. Whether we know it or not, even the most progressive among us are often using 400-year-old inherited thoughts and belief systems in the twenty-first century. Why are we still carrying forth these ancient values that have never served the vast majority?

As a Black, queer, non-binary, disabled femme, Ericka Hart believes that sex ed done right can actually be a tool for liberation. In Nasty Work, she breaks down the ways that social implications keep us from experiencing pleasure, particularly for marginalized communities across race, gender, sexuality, and ability, and how we can dismantle these oppressive myths. From examining what guides our attraction to others to the history of consent, Ericka Hart takes the blinders off and reveals a more empowering view of sex and sexuality.

Nasty Work blends eye-opening research with powerful, poignant personal narrative that disrupts everything you thought you knew about sex and society, offering a liberatory framework that makes pleasure accessible for all.

We're meeting to discuss Leave Your Mess At Home by Tolani Akinola!

BOOK CLUB MEETING DEETS

When: Thursday, June 25 @ 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP ONLY to let us know you plan to attend! Support the Fiction Book Club by purchasing a copy of the book from Kindred Stories here!

ABOUT LEAVE YOUR MESS AT HOME

"A warm, smart, hilarious, delicious, riveting" (Curtis Sittenfeld) debut about the uncomfortable, unbreakable ties of family as four adult siblings come home to confront the state of their own lives and each other

The Longe siblings are really botching their parents' American Dream.

Sola Longe, eldest daughter, estranged from the family, is secretly back home in Chicago for the first time in a decade. She’s a newly single and recently disgraced influencer trying to quietly put her life back together again. The other three Longe siblings aren't doing much better.

Anjola is in love with her best friend, who just got engaged to someone else; Karen, a college junior and the baby of the family, is grappling with her sexuality and self-image; and Ola, the golden child with a baby of his own on the way, is questioning his marriage and how to raise a Black son in America.

Sola’s unexpected return sets them on a crash course towards each other, and when the four siblings find themselves together again at their Nigerian immigrant parents' Thanksgiving table, a decade’s worth of secrets and a lifetime of resentments explode to the fore.

In the wreckage of their fateful reunion, each Longe is forced to reckon with the past, take stock of what really matters, and find a way back to each other. Big-hearted, hilarious, and poignant, Leave Your Mess At Home is an insightful debut about forgiveness, unconditional love, and becoming who you want to be, asking the question: what do we owe to our families, and what do we owe to ourselves?

Celebrate the release of Love Is a Contact Sport with Frederick Smith!

EVENT DEETS

When: Thursday, July 9 @ 7PM

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to grab your copy of Love Is A Contact Sport, support the author, and our store programming.

Please note outside copies of the event 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

After a rough breakup, gay romance author Renny Ross heads to the Bay Area for a fresh start. His new gig writing the anniversary story for a local university is supposed to be a fresh chapter (thanks to university president Dr. Taylor James). But Renny didn't expect to run into a familiar face from his past.

After dropping off his youngest child at college, recently divorced Brent D. King DuPree is on a journey to freedom, liberation, and living the life he put on hold for over twenty years to raise his family. Figuring out life as a newly out and newly single man, Brent is hesitant about stepping into the Bay Area gay scene until a chance reunion with his first real crush, and the guy he never quite forgot, his peer mentor and tutor in college: Renny Ross.

Neither man expected a second chance. But working together at the same university stirs up feelings that never really faded. Their love doesn't have to be a secret anymore, but will they get it right this time?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Frederick Smith writes Black, queer contemporary novels that discuss MM
romance, identity, and social justice with humor and heart. Originally from
Detroit, Frederick is the author of seven romance novels set in L.A. and San
Francisco that feature Black Queer characters. A higher education professional by
day, Frederick does Student Life and Diversity & Inclusion work at San Francisco
State University.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

We’ve all read breathtaking memoirs by Black luminaries such as Zora Neale Hurston, Angela Davis, and Michelle Obama. How can personal essays and memoirs empower us to write about our own extraordinary ordinary lives?

In conversation with contemporary Black writers who have explored their lived experiences through personal essays and memoirs, we will develop our own voices and, hopefully, cultivate a deeper interest in writing these forms ourselves.

Each class will feature readings, discussions, and in-class writing exercises. Over the course of our four weeks together, every student will have the opportunity to submit one essay for individualized feedback.

EVENT DEETS

When: Wednesdays July 1, 8, 15, & 29 @ 6:30 PM

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP to reserve your place in this four-part workshop series. Space is limited, and registration is intended for participants who are able to attend all four sessions, ensuring a consistent and collaborative experience for the group.

Supplies: All materials will be provided. Participants are welcome to bring a laptop.

Inspired by the work featured in Hew Locke: Passages, on view at the
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, this summer, this free two-part generative
poetry workshop invites participants to engage in the wonder of ekphrasis.  Translated from Greek, ekphrasis simply means “description.” In this
workshop, writers use this poetic mode to depict what is seen in the
exhibition by writing original poems based on Locke’s work.

Participants will investigate visual tools used by the artist such as color,
pattern, and texture to explore how these how these concepts lend
themselves to poetic devices such as imagery, rhythm, repetition, mood,
and voice. Attendees will use their imagination to connect a variety of
narratives to Locke’s artwork.

The goal of this workshop is for youth, adults, and seniors to connect with
art in a way that enlivens their roles as viewers and co-artists.

Event Details:

This is a two-part workshop led by El Williams.  Please plan to attend both sessions.

Session 1:

Saturday, July 11
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
(includes a guided visit to the exhibition and entry to the museum)

Session 2:

Saturday, July 18
6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Kindred Stories in the Third Ward
We ask that those who sign up commit
to attend both sessions. Space is limited
to 25 attendees.

Sign up for this free workshop here!

We're meeting to discuss Score!

BOOK CLUB MEETING DEETS

When: Tuesday, August 11 @ 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP ONLY to let us know you plan to attend! Support the Romance Book Club by purchasing a copy of the book from Kindred Stories here!

*This book is currently on PRE-ORDER and has an on sale date for June 9th. You can purchase now for your book to be picked up or shipped on June 9th. 

ABOUT SCORE

You never forget your first love. Isn't that what they say? Verity Hill knows this truth intimately. She didn't simply miss Wright "Monk" Bellamy when they parted ways in college. She's haunted by his touch. Every kiss, any lover since—it's a shadow of what they had. 

Time heals all wounds. Isn't that what they say? Monk doesn't believe that for a second. He wasn't simply betrayed when he and Verity split. He was devastated, with parts of him left behind in the ruins of all that was destroyed. 

More than a decade after their disastrous breakup, Verity and Monk must work together on the set of an epic Harlem Renaissance biopic. With Monk, now a world-class musician, creating the score, and Verity, an award-winning screenwriter, penning the script, there's Oscar buzz before shooting even begins. This once-in-a-lifetime project could catapult them both to new heights, but can they can put the past behind them for the sake of the film…for the sake of something more?

This Event Has Been Cancelled 

Celebrate the release of Moments of Joy with Camille Joy!

EVENT DEETS

When: Friday, August 28 @ 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat, RSVP WITH BOOK to grab your copy of Moments of Joy, support the author and our store programming, or RSVP( BUT I HAVE THE BOOK) to bring in your own copy of Moments of Joy.

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 or purchase the RSVP (BUT I HAVE THE BOOK) ticket. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

A life-affirming resource for parents raising children with special needs, this inspiring devotional brings together real hope, uplifting truths, and practical applications to help you reconnect with God's constant love and presence.

Raising a child with special needs is a journey filled with unique challenges and profound joys. Through 90 days of heartening devotions, advocate and founder Camille Joy draws from her personal experience of raising a son with autism, IDD, and complex medical issues to help you see God’s presence and plan in your own journey. With inspiring scripture, each devotion offers a very brief and encouraging reflection, as well as a bold affirmation to take with you into your day.

Moments of Joy is a celebration of your tenacious love for your child and a powerful reminder of God’s indomitable love for you both. These pages offer a safe place to acknowledge the hard, and a restful oasis for your weary heart. Whether you're celebrating small victories or facing overwhelming obstacles, you’ll find hope, practical reminders, and solidarity with each reading. Embrace the joy that sustains and discover peace in knowing you are never alone.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Camille Joy is a devoted wife and mother, with a heart as vast as her roles: entrepreneur, podcaster, advocate, and a beacon of hope. She radiates joy and utilizes her diverse platforms to uplift families navigating the unique challenges of raising children with special needs.

In 2018, Camille Joy embarked on an inspiring journey when she launched her podcast, "Moments of Joy." Today, it stands tall as a premier platform, uniting parents raising children with disabilities and providing them with a supportive community. In her weekly podcast episodes, Camille draws from her personal experiences and shares compelling narratives from parents and professionals across the globe.

Her mission is crystal clear: to deliver genuine support and absolute transparency to parents in the caregiving journey. This cause holds a special place in her heart, as her youngest son, Maison, was born with congenital heart disease and later diagnosed with Autism. Camille Joy's life is a testament to the power of empathy, resilience, and unwavering determination to make a difference in the lives of families like hers.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Kirby Jackson  was born and raised in Houston, Texas. By day, they work at Kindred Stories, receiving books and helping readers discover their next great fantasy read. Outside of work, Kirby enjoys reading and exploring Houston's parks and trails with their son.

Celebrate the release of The Unhaunting with Micaiah Johnson!

EVENT DEETS

When: Thursday, October 1 @ 7 PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to grab your copy of the book, support the author and our store programming.

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

A house, itself, is nothing. It’s not a shelter until it is sheltering someone. A house is a housefire, waiting for its match. A house is a ghost story, waiting for its death.

At the end of the Civil War, a daughter of the Confederacy made what she thought was an innocent wish: to build a house where nothing bad could happen. But peace came at a price, and one hundred and seventy years later Shantell and her friends are about to discover where all that darkness ended up.

When Shantell’s best friend, Avery, tells her he has inherited a house big enough to make their dreams of a sanctuary come true, she’s too cautious to be optimistic. A lifetime of loss — her father to the Iraq war, her brother to police violence, and her mother to suicide — has taught her cynicism, and even though Avery swears the house has never experienced a tragedy, she goes along expecting everything from black mold to evil spirits.

But not only is the house in better shape than they’d expected, it makes them better too: Shantell’s anxiety stops flaring up; terminally shallow Avery is suddenly capable of deeper emotions; and Tobias, Avery’s older brother and the contractor for the job, even quits chain smoking.

There’s an eeriness to the calm, and it’s almost a relief when they realize they do not walk alone in Abernathy House. If nothing bad has ever happened here, where are all these ghosts coming from? As they dig into the house’s history, Shantell, Avery, and Tobias discover that there’s only one thing worse than a house that’s haunted: a house that desperately wants to be.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Micaiah Johnson is a Carl Brandon and Compton Crook Award-winning author. Her debut novel, The Space Between Worlds, was a Sunday Times Bestseller, a Locus Award finalist, an Editors’ Choice at The New York Times and was named one of best books of 2020 and one of the best science fiction books of the last decade by NPR. Her follow-up novel, Those Beyond the Wall, a timely look at violence during apartheid, was released in March 2024 and has been named as a Best Books of 2024 by NPR, Reactor, Esquire and Lithub. She received her BA in creative writing from the University of California, Riverside, and her MFA in fiction from Rutgers University-Camden, and her PhD from Vanderbilt University.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Celebrate the release of The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman with Deesha Philyaw!

EVENT DEETS

When: Monday, November 16 @ 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, HTX 77004)

How:

• RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat.
• RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your seat and purchase a copy of the book, supporting both the author and our store programming. The book will be available for pickup at the event.
• RSVP (I Already Have the Book) to reserve your seat and let us know you plan to bring one you previously purchased from another bookseller.

Please note that books purchased from other retailers are not permitted inside the bookstore and will not qualify for the signing or photo line. To participate in the signing and photo opportunity, you must purchase a copy of the book from Kindred Stories or select the RSVP (But I ALREADY HAVE THE BOOK) ticket option.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your copy. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The wife of a popular and powerful megachurch pastor upends her charmed “rags-to-Rolex” life when her secret past comes roaring into the spotlight—in this "funny and juicy and sexy and delicious peek behind the pulpit" (Samantha Irby) from the acclaimed and beloved author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies.

From the moment Scharisse Freeman ditched her humble roots and married a megachurch pastor fifteen years her senior, she’s been labeled too brash and too “of the world” by church folks who grudgingly accepted her into their fold, and too holy by her estranged childhood bestie Petra. Schar doesn’t have many allies, but that hasn’t stopped her from building an enviable business empire spanning books to clothing to branded products, and living the comfortable life her husband's power affords her.

On the eve of her 40th birthday, Schar gets the final bit of validation she’s always dreamt of: a coveted invitation to participate in the First Lady USA pageant. This is her chance to be accepted by the other pastors’ wives—First Ladies—who are “like Jesus’ disciples if they had been a group of mean girls.” Finally, blissfully, the ice between Schar and the other First Ladies begins to thaw.

But as the pageant nears, a sensational scandal breaks with Schar at its center, and her carefully curated life implodes. Schar faces down shame and terrible secrets from her childhood and is reminded that in the eyes of the church, optics can matter more than the truth.

Unflinchingly funny, frank, and splendidly unruly, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman exults in the luscious, messy pleasure of finally feeling free.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deesha Philyaw’s debut short story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the Story Prize, the LA Times Book Prize: The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction. Deesha is a Kimbilio Fiction Fellow, a Baldwin for the Arts Fellow, a United States Artists Fellow, and co-host of two podcasts, Ursa Short Fiction (with Dawnie Walton) and Reckon True Stories (with Kiese Laymon). She is currently at work developing TV shows based on her short fiction.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Kiese Laymon is a Black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. Laymon is the Libbie Shearn Moody Professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University. Laymon is the author of Long Division, which won the 2022 NAACP Image Award for fiction, and the essay collection, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, named a notable book of 2021 by the New York Times critics. Laymon’s bestselling memoir, Heavy: An American Memoir, won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction, the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose, the Barnes and Noble Discovery Award, the Austen Riggs Erikson Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media, and was named one of the 50 Best Memoirs of the Past 50 Years by The New York Times. The audiobook, read by the author, was named the Audible 2018 Audiobook of the Year. Laymon is the recipient of 2020-2021 Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard.

Laymon is at work on the books, Good God, and City Summer, Country Summer, and a number of other film and television projects. He is the founder of The Catherine Coleman Literary Arts and Justice Initiative, a program based out of the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University, aimed at aiding young people in Jackson get more comfortable reading, writing, revising and sharing on their on their own terms, in their own communities. He is the co-host of Reckon True Stories with Deesha Philyaw. Kiese Laymon was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2022.

Event Purchases Are Non-Refundable

EVENT MISSION:

The mission of this workshop is to unite people from all facets of Black culture. This will not be just another networking opportunity; rather, it aims to foster connections with Black immigrants involved in movement-building spaces and with Black Americans living in proximity to social injustice. 

Finding a path forward by discussing ways we can collaborate, build, and organize together. Learning and hearing from directly impacted Black immigrants and Black folx who sit at many intersections, and mobilizing to dismantle and create new systems of life and structure. 

Coming face-to-face with harmful systems and policy changes in the region. We will share tools and resources so attendees can not only participate in the discussion but also find tangible ways to turn these conversations into action that challenges and transforms harmful systems.

EVENT DETAILS

Dates:

• July 29
• August 15
• September 23

Time:
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Location:
Kindred Stories
2310 Elgin Street, Suite #2
Houston, TX 77004

Each event will feature a panel discussion followed by a Q&A session. 

A curated book list will accompany each event, with all featured titles available for purchase at Kindred Stories.

Celebrate the release of The Drakon King with Terry J. Benton-Walker!

EVENT DEETS

When: Wednesday, November 18 @ 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St. Houston, TX 77004)

How:

• RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat
• RSVP WITH BOOK to reserv your seat, grab your copy of The Drakon King, and support the author and our store programming.

Please Note: Books purchased from other retailers are not permitted in the bookstore and are not eligible for the signing or photo line. To participate in the signing and photo opportunity, you must either purchase a copy from Kindred Stories. If you already purchased your book from Kindred Stories, you may select the RSVP Only ticket option and bring your Kindred Stories copy to the event.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If your book is not retrieved it will be returned to the publisher and will not be available for pick up in the future.

ABOUT THE BOOK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Terry J. Benton-Walker is the best-selling and award-winning author of fantasy and horror, most notably the Blood Debts and Alex Wise series and The White Guy Dies First horror anthology. The Drakon King is Terry’s first romantic fantasy for the adult market.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

N.E. Davenport is the author of Our Vicious Oaths, the Blood Gift duology, and the YA novels Out of Body and Love Spells Trouble (as Nia Davenport). When she isn’t writing, she enjoys vacationing with her family, skiing, and being a huge foodie.

Celebrate the release of The Black Madonna with Christena Cleveland!

EVENT DEETS

When: Monday, September 21 @ 6:30 PM CST

Where: Virtual via Zoom. (We'll send you the Zoom link!)

How: 

• RSVP ONLY to reserve your spot.
• RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your spot and purchase a copy of The Black Madonna, supporting both the author and our store programming. The book will be available for pickup or shipped on the day of the event.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If you do not retrieve your event book , it will be returned to the publisher and you are not eligible for a refund. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Meet Black Madonna—Mother of Abundance, Holy Insurrectionist, Our Lady of F Around and Find Out

This bold reclamation of the divine feminine offers a new vision of Black Madonna as a unifying figure of refuge, resistance, and renewal. When we are exhausted and burned out, Black Madonna invites us to surrender to her protective embrace and be revitalized by her subversive life force. When disillusionment takes hold, Black Madonna offers radical belonging—urging us to reclaim our own sacred power.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christena Cleveland, Ph.D. is a social psychologist, public theologian, author, and activist. A weaver of Black liberation and the Divine Feminine, Dr. Cleveland embraces the archetype of the Black Madonna as she guides people of all races and genders into freedom, wholeness, and embodied justice. She is the founder of the Black Madonna Freedom School, which nurtures courageous and compassionate people who are uprooting white patriarchal religious conditioning in themselves and their communities, while skillfully planting intersectional divine feminine wisdom. Her latest book is The Black Madonna: Icon of Resistance & Nourisher of Souls where she explores the miraculous, liberating, and zany ways that the Black Madonna has protected, empowered, and nourished people around the globe and throughout history. An award-winning researcher and former professor at Duke University’s Divinity School, Christena lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. You can discover more about the Black Madonna and Christena at www.christenacleveland.com.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Natasha Gordon-Chipembere, PhD., is an African Diasporic literature professor and writer. Her first academic book was Representation and Black Womanhood: The Legacy of Sarah Baartman (Palgrave 2011). Gordon-Chipembere has been published in various academic presses, including Callaloo and Small Axe and also writes public facing non-fiction, which has been published in Essence. She has been the recipient of three Fulbright Fellowships, where she conducted research and taught at the University of Nairobi Kenya (1992-1993), Chancellor College, the University of Malawi (June-August 2010) and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark (June-July 2025). She continues to serve as a co-editor of the AfroLatin@Diasporas Book Series at Palgrave/Springer, as a founder with the late Miriam Jimenez-Roman and Juan Flores. Born and raised in New York to Costa Rican and Panamanian parents, Gordon-Chipembere relocated to Costa Rica with her husband and two children in 2014. In Costa Rica, Gordon-Chipembere focuses on promoting the Afro-descendant  legacy.  For five years, she wrote a monthly column on race and diversity, "Musings from an AfroCosta Rican¨ for the Tico Times, the longest established English language newspaper in Costa Rica. Her first historical fiction novel, Finding La Negrita (part one in a trilogy on AfroCosta Ricans) was published in 2022 (Jaded Ibis Press). It is a re-writing of the Black Madonna narrative in Costa Rica from an Africanist perspective.  Finding La Negrita won the 2023 Silver IPPY Award for Best Historical Fiction and was nominated for a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Best Debut Novel in 2023. Her second work-in-progress, 1710, focuses on the shipwrecks of two Danish slave ships on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica on March 2, 1710. Gordon-Chipembere is the founder and host of the annual Tengo Sed Writing Retreat for writers of color in Costa Rica. She co-edited with Yndia Lorick-Wilmont, Tengo Sed: An Anthology of Works Celebrating Black Voices, Identities, and Personhood (University of Illinois Press 2026), which documents the artistic production of Tengo Sed participants since its inception in 2015. Gordon-Chipembere is a member of a large AfroCosta Rican women advocacy group (CostaRicaAfro) in San Jose which provides mentorship, community discussions and cultural events to highlight the legacy of AfroCosta Ricans, who are not highly visible in the country. Dr. Gordon-Chipembere lectures widely on these issues nationally and internationally.

We're meeting to discuss Revive Me: Parts 1-3 by J.L Seegars!

BOOK CLUB MEETING DEETS

When: Tuesday, September 8 @ 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

How: RSVP ONLY to let us know you plan to attend! Support the Romance Book Club by purchasing a copy of the book from Kindred Stories below!

Revive Me Pt. 1

Revive Me Pt. 2

Revive Me Pt. 3

*This series is a Kindred bestseller, and we'll be discussing all three books in the series. Earlier this year, we discussed Restore Me, and now we're excited to continue with Chris and Mallory's story.

ABOUT THE REVIVE ME BOOKS

Revive Me Pt. 1

Revive Me Pt. 2

Revive Me Pt. 3

Mallory

Hope is a dangerous thing. It holds you close like a lover, whispering promises it never intends to keep, and just as soon as you relax into its arms, it lets you go. Sending you spinning into an abyss of nothingness. When I sent him away four years ago, he promised he would come back to me, and even as I asked him not to, I hoped that he would.

Hope. I tucked it deep inside of me, underneath the scars of our before, beside the dreams of our after. Hidden like contraband. Guarded like a treasure. Broken like every promise that ever fell from his lips and hit my ears. Eventually, I got tired of hoping, of waiting for him, and I plunged my hands inside my own heart, ripping past scar tissue and muscle, veins and arteries to root it out.

Hope. He conspired with it to make a fool of me, and when I freed myself from it, exorcised that pointless dream, I promised myself that no one would get the chance to do that to me again. Then, and only then, did he appear.

My promise, a spell that conjured him. My determination, a challenge. My heart, the only prize he hopes to win.

Christopher

Life without Mallory Kent has taught me that time doesn’t heal wounds. It turns them into scars. Jagged tissue that grows around your pain, covering it with raised skin that will never again be smooth to the touch. My first scar formed when I was just a child. Too young to fully understand what my mother’s loss would mean for my life but old enough to remember the echo of the pain inside my empty chest. It was a unique agony. One I never expected to feel again.

But that was before I loved her. Before I let things that had nothing to do with us cost me everything.

It’s been four years since I decided to honor her request to stay away. To move on with my life and give her a chance to move on with hers. And she might not agree, but it was more than enough time for us to try and do the impossible. The only thing our time apart has done is remind me that wherever she is, is where I’m supposed to be.

Now I just have to make her believe it.

Celebrate the release of Ashes at the Altar with LaDarrion Williams!

EVENT DEETS

When: Thursday, September 17 @ 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004)

What: 

• Bookclub Discussion for Books 1 & 2 in the series
• Q&A with the author about Ashes at the Altar
• Activities and Games 
• Author Signing
• Giveaways

How:

• RSVP Only – Reserve your spot at the event.
• RSVP with Book – Reserve your spot and a copy of Ashes At The Altar
• RSVP with the Blood At The Root Trilogy Hardcover Bundle – Reserve your spot and receive a hardcover bundle of all three books in the Root Trilogy.

Please Note: Copies of Ashes at the Altar purchased from other retailers are not permitted inside the bookstore and are not eligible for the signing or photo line. To participate in the signing and photo opportunity, you must purchase the event book from Kindred Stories. If you have already purchased your copy from Kindred Stories, you may select the RSVP Only ticket option and bring your Kindred Stories copy to the event. You are also welcome to bring additional books by the author to be signed, but a Kindred Stories event book purchase is required to join the signing line.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If your book is not retrieved it will be returned to the publisher and will not be available for pick up in the future.

ABOUT THE BOOK

At a hidden magical HBCU a teen boy must confront evil spirits, family secrets and tested loyalties. In this haunting finale to the New York Times bestselling Blood at the Root trilogy, bloodlines, betrayal, and legacy collide in a battle that may cost everything.

Malik Baron has learned a lot since he first came to Caiman University: History is power. Family is more than just blood. You can't escape your past. And magic always comes with a price. 

But nothing he's been taught could have prepared him for what this semester will bring. Even after he risked it all to trap the evil spirit Marinette that has been possessing his mother, her power continues to grow. And with her and the Bokors still at large, the cracks in the magical community have reached a breaking point. Just as Malik begins to get to know his father's family, the Bonclairs' power is challenged, leaving him to decide where his loyalties lie. And it's not just the future of Caiman at stake, but the very magic that runs in his veins. 

In the propulsive and emotional conclusion to this powerful trilogy, the future and the family Malik has fought so hard to build and protect is in greater danger than ever. But with the power of ancestors and the strength of his loved ones behind him, can he fight for what the world has always said is impossible for a Black boy like him—a happy ending?

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.

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.

Celebrate the release of From Presence To Power with Rashad Robinson!

EVENT DEETS

When: Friday, September 11 @ 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004) 

How: 

• RSVP ONLY – Reserve your spot at the event.
• RSVP WITH BOOK – Reserve your spot and a copy From Presence To Power

Please Note: Books purchased from other retailers are not permitted in the bookstore and are not eligible for the signing or photo line. To participate in the signing and photo opportunity, you must purchase a copy from Kindred Stories If you already purchased your book from Kindred Stories, you may select the RSVP Only ticket option and bring your Kindred Stories copy to the event.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If your book is not retrieved it will be returned to the publisher and will not be available for pick up in the future.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Why do some fights for justice hit a wall while others succeed? What does it take to win social change, especially now? It comes down to understanding one thing: the difference between presence and power.

Failing to do so is one way we got into this mess, but understanding how power really works is a big part of how we get out of it. 

Rashad Robinson would know. A social change strategist, he’s spent more than twenty years at the highest levels of leadership in two of the most significant social movements of our time: the fight for LGBTQ rights and the fight for racial justice. He’s taken on tech giants and the criminal justice system, politicians in Washington and corporate executives in Hollywood. He’s been on the front lines of protest and in the back rooms of negotiation. 

Robinson argues that achieving presence—the visibility of marches, media fads, and making issues popular—is not the same as gaining the leverage required to change the rules for how society works or change the decisions that politicians, corporate executives, and other people in authority make. 

This book offers a set of essential lessons about power for anyone who wants to understand it, gain it, and use it to win the progress we all deserve—and to defeat the forces trying to take our freedoms away. Robinson provides the tools needed to help everyday people build real leverage in systems designed to prevent them from doing so.

As someone who helped shape the resistance after the 2016 election, and continues to help leaders at every level find innovative ways to fight back and win progress today, Robinson offers a hopeful, practical guide to achieving positive impact in the most challenging times.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rashad Robinson is a social justice leader, strategist and organization builder. He has designed campaigns to change public policies, corporate practices, electoral outcomes, and media representations. He speaks widely on corporate accountability, narrative change, infrastructure for organizing, and strategies for creating a more equitable world. Through Rashad Robinson Advisors (RRA), he advises and collaborates on developing high-impact strategies to bring about progress with foundations, nonprofits and leaders across media, politics, government and business. He previously led Color Of Change for nearly fourteen years, transforming it from a start-up into a national force for racial justice, and also led programs at GLAAD, reshaping media representations of LGBTQ people during the fights to win marriage equality and end discrimination. More information about Rashad, including his weekly How We Win newsletter, can be found at www.rashadrobinson.com.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Kendrick Sampson is an actor, storyteller, and producer who leverages his platform and storytelling to shift culture for good.

Growing up in Houston and Missouri City (Mo City), Texas, Kendrick was immersed in a unique and deeply rooted culture of music and art that continues to shape his work today.

His most acclaimed and notable roles include "Nathan" on HBO's Emmy-nominated comedy series Insecure, "Ethan" in Prime Video's Something from Tiffany's, and his personal favorite, the surrealist satire I Am a Virgo from Boots Riley. Next month, Kendrick takes on his most iconic role yet: Quincy Jones in the highly anticipated Michael biopic, releasing April 24th. It is the first portrayal of the legendary music producer since his passing, bringing to life Quincy's transformative partnership with Michael Jackson.

Beyond acting, Kendrick uses his platform to amplify transformational grassroots work in healing justice, including mental health, sexual health, liberation, and abolition. He co-founded BLD PWR, which encompasses a production company and a 501(c)(3) social impact arm dedicated to reimagining and realizing the liberated future we know our people deserve. Through BLD PWR, he works to organize Hollywood and shift culture, ensuring that nuanced Black, Indigenous, and marginalized voices, especially storytellers and their stories, are nourished, protected, and empowered.

Celebrate the release of Don't Fall with B.B. Reid!

EVENT DEETS

When: Thursday, October 15 @ 7PM CST

Where: 2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004

How: 

• RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat.
• RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your seat and purchase a copy Don't Fall, supporting both the author and our store programming. The book will be available for pickup at the event.

Please Note: Books purchased from other retailers are not permitted in the bookstore and are not eligible for the signing or photo line. To participate in the signing and photo opportunity, you must purchase a copy from Kindred Stories. If you already purchased your book from Kindred Stories, you may select the RSVP Only ticket option and bring your Kindred Stories copy to the event.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If your book is not retrieved it will be returned to the publisher and will not be available for pick up in the future.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The first in a brand-new frontlist duet by bestselling author B.B. Reid - a dark romance Red Riding Hood retelling, perfect for fans of Rina Kent, Emily McIntire, and Elizabeth Helen.

While caring for her grandmother, a young woman is caught between a sly wolf hellbent on seducing her and an enigmatic stranger with a heart of tarnished gold.

ABOUT THE BOOK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

B.B. Reid is a bestselling author of several romances, including Crucible, the imaginative retelling of Goldilocks. She’s most known for her dark and contemporary romances, but began her career writing new adult. B.B. currently resides in Atlanta with Ivan, her moody tuxedo cat. When she’s not being a nomad, she enjoys gaming, white chocolate mocha, home decor, and retail therapy.

Celebrate the release of Bringing Wreck with Omise’eke Natasha Tinsley!

EVENT DEETS

When: Sunday, October 18 @ 6 PM CST

Where: 2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004

How: 

• RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat.
• RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your seat and purchase a copy of Bringing Wreck, supporting both the author and our store programming. The book will be available for pickup at the event.

Please Note: Books purchased from other retailers are not permitted in the bookstore and are not eligible for the signing or photo line. To participate in the signing and photo opportunity, you must either purchase a copy from Kindred Stories or select the RSVP: I Already Have the Book ticket option, which allows you to bring a copy purchased elsewhere. If you already purchased your book from Kindred Stories, you may select the RSVP Only ticket option and bring your Kindred Stories copy to the event.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If your book is not retrieved it will be returned to the publisher and will not be available for pick up in the future.

ABOUT THE BOOK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Omise’eke Natasha Tinsley is Professor and Chair of Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her books include The Color Pynk: Black Femme Art for Survival (2022), Beyoncé in Formation: Remixing Black Feminism (2018), Ezili’s Mirrors: Imagining Black Queer Genders (2018), and Thiefing Sugar: Eroticism Between Women in Caribbean Literature (2010).

Celebrate the release of The Period and Puberty Parenting Revolution with Dr. Charis Chambers!

EVENT DEETS

When: Friday, September 18 @ 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, HTX 77004)

• RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat.
• RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your seat and purchase a copy The Period and Puberty Parenting Revolution, supporting both the author and our store programming. The book will be available for pickup at the event.

Please Note: Books purchased from other retailers are not permitted in the bookstore and are not eligible for the signing or photo line. To participate in the signing and photo opportunity, you must purchase a copy from Kindred Stories. If you already purchased your book from Kindred Stories, you may select the RSVP Only ticket option and bring your Kindred Stories copy to the event.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If your book is not retrieved it will be returned to the publisher and will not be available for pick up in the future.

ABOUT THE BOOK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Charis Chambers is a board-certified OB/GYN and fellowship-trained Pediatric & Adolescent Gynecologist. She is the founder of The Period Doctor, an award winning and internationally recognized social media platform dedicated to reproductive health education and equity. She is also the Chief Medical Officer at the #1 women founded and women led menstrual tracking app, Clue. She currently practices part-time in Greenville, SC but will soon be opening her private practice in Atlanta, GA.

Dr. Chambers is a proud Spelman College alumna where she served on the Miss Spelman Court as 1st Attendant and was initiated into Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Mu Pi Chapter in the Spring of 2008. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2010 with a degree in Biology. She is a 2024 Distinguished Young Alumni Award recipient from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she earned her medical degree. She completed OB/GYN residency at Greenville Memorial Hospital and fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine.

Beyond clinical care and digital education, Dr. Chambers serves on the governing board of Movement Charter Schools Atlanta and the Medical Review Committee for PERIOD. She is the author of the upcoming book “The Period & Puberty Parenting Revolution,” a compassionate and medically accurate guide that transforms how we parent kids through puberty. She is also a wife and new mom who is passionate about raising the next generation with a foundation in health equity and reproductive justice.

Celebrate the release of Expecting Inequity with Khiara M. Bridges! The event will feature a moderated conversation, audience Q&A, and book signing, followed by a community art activation led by The Call Me Mother Experience.

EVENT DEETS

When: Thursday, October 29 @ 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, HTX 77004)

How: 

• RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat.
• RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your seat and purchase a copy Expecting Inequity, supporting both the author and our store programming. The book will be available for pickup at the event.

Please Note: Books purchased from other retailers are not permitted in the bookstore and are not eligible for the signing or photo line. To participate in the signing and photo opportunity, you must purchase a copy from Kindred Stories. If you already purchased your book from Kindred Stories, you may select the RSVP Only ticket option and bring your Kindred Stories copy to the event.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If your book is not retrieved it will be returned to the publisher and will not be available for pick up in the future.

ABOUT THE BOOK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Khiara M. Bridges is the Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at UC Berkeley School of Law. 

She is a nationally-recognized expert on the intersection of race, class, and reproductive rights. Her scholarship has appeared in the most influential law reviews in the country, including the flagship law journals at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and UC Berkeley, among many others. She is also the author of three books: Reproducing Race: An Ethnography of Pregnancy as a Site of Racialization (2011), The Poverty of Privacy Rights (2017), and Critical Race Theory: A Primer (2019, 2026). Her fourth book, Expecting Inequity: How the Maternal Health Crisis Affects Even the Wealthiest Black Americans, was released in March 2026.

Bridges graduated as valedictorian from Spelman College, receiving her degree in three years. She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her Ph.D., with distinction, from Columbia University’s Department of Anthropology. She speaks fluent Spanish and basic Arabic, and she is a classically-trained ballet dancer who danced professionally in New York City for twenty years before moving to the Bay Area.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton is a multi-modal storyteller whose work documents, examines, and celebrates the complexities of Black American life. She has authored Newsworthy (Bloomsday Literary, 2019), Black Chameleon (Henry Holt & Co., 2023), which won the Carr P. Collins award for Best Nonfiction through the Texas Institute of Letters, and Hush Hush Hurricane (Kokila Books, 2027). This three-time TEDx speaker has contributed to Glamour, Texas Monthly, and ESPN's Andscape and written theatrical works that have premiered at Chicago Opera Theater, the Kennedy Center, and National Sawdust. Her upcoming immersive art installation, The Call Me Mother Experience, amplifies the Black Maternal Health crisis.

Celebrate the release of The Real Domestic Product with Elizabeth Gregory!

EVENT DEETS

When: Thursday, October 8 @ 7 PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St, HTX 77004)

How: 

• RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat.
• RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your seat and purchase a copy The Real Domestic, supporting both the author and our store programming. The book will be available for pickup at the event.

Please Note: Books purchased from other retailers are not permitted in the bookstore and are not eligible for the signing or photo line. To participate in the signing and photo opportunity, you must purchase a copy from Kindred Stories. If you already purchased your book from Kindred Stories, you may select the RSVP Only ticket option and bring your Kindred Stories copy to the event.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If your book is not retrieved it will be returned to the publisher and will not be available for pick up in the future.

ABOUT THE BOOK

An urgent and clear-eyed look at the battles over reproductive control and women’s work in our tipping-point moment—and how to forge a path forward.

Reliable birth control has enabled the rising percentage of planned births over the past 35 years,allowing women to enter the paid workforce and civic life in significant numbers for the first time in recorded history. While many Americans embrace these changes, those who see themselves as benefiting from the old hierarchies resist this progress with divisive rhetoric.

In The Real Domestic Product, fertility researcher Elizabeth Gregory argues that our battles over abortion and LGBTQ bans, pronatalism, and DEI are economic at base—that conservatives seek to push women out of civic life through forced childbearing. Their goal? To maintain their discount on domestic labor (getting the work of childrearing done for “free”) and a steady supply of low-wage workers (desperate parents who must take any job to feed the baby).

By connecting the dots among shifting fertility patterns, economics, climate change, equitable work, expanding longevity, and the rising status of formerly excluded groups, Gregory counters reactionary narratives. She demonstrates that a caring democracy and an end to systemic poverty can engender critical advantages for our economy and for our fragile planet.

Never more urgently needed, The Real Domestic Product envisions the way forward to an economy of care for our planet and its people.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elizabeth Gregory directs the Institute for Research on Women, Gender & Sexuality at the University of Houston, where she is a professor of English and Taylor Professor of Gender & Sexuality Studies. In addition to The Real Domestic Product, she is the author of Ready: Why Women Are Embracing the New Later Motherhood and Apparition of Splendor: Marianne Moore Performing Democracy through Celebrity, and others. 

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER 

Oni Blair joined the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas as the executive director in June 2021. As the leader of this statewide, nonpartisan organization, Oni directs the organization’s efforts in communities, at the State Capitol, and in the courts to protect and advance civil rights and civil liberties for every Texan, no exceptions. Prior to the ACLU of Texas, Oni led LINK Houston, a transportation justice organization that shaped a $7-billion transit plan and won $51.5 million for Black and Latinx communities impacted by a highway expansion. As a Foreign Service Officer (U.S. diplomat) with the U.S. Department of State for 13 years, Oni directed the human rights bureau’s Near Eastern Affairs Office; served as special assistant to the U.S. Deputy Secretary; and worked at U.S. Embassies in Jordan, Pakistan, and Iraq. Oni is a Council on Foreign Relations Member, Truman National Security Project Fellow, former International Career Advancement Fellow, former American Council on Germany Young Leaders Fellow, and former Belfer Center (non-resident) fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School. Oni graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University (2002) and a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School (2004)

Celebrate the release of Writer In Residence with Rhonda McKnight!

EVENT DEETS

When: Monday, September 28 @ 6:30 PM CST

Where: Virtual via Zoom. (We'll send you the Zoom link!)

How: 

• RSVP ONLY to reserve your spot.
• RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your spot and purchase a copy of Writer In Residence, supporting both the author and our store programming. The book will be available for pickup or shipped on the day of the event.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If you do not retrieve your event book , it will be returned to the publisher and you are not eligible for a refund. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

From award-winning author Rhonda McKnight comes a new story of faith, history, and the power of legacy that merges the romance of The Bookshop Sisterhood with the rich Lowcountry setting of Mary Alice Monroe.

Alexandra Chambers is a writer who has run out of words. Struggling with writer's block and the pressure to secure a new book deal, she wins a week in a writer-friendly cabin through a drawing held at a Lowcountry literacy center.

What she finds is far more than she expected--a vibrant community brimming with inspiration, a past steeped in history and culture, and a man who both intrigues and unsettles her.

Gabe Scott, a bestselling author and the former writer-in-residence, is everything Alex feels she's not--acclaimed, award-winning, and unshakably confident. When their paths cross at the center, his literary brilliance and dedication to helping struggling Gullah students stir feelings Alex isn't ready to confront. Though undeniably attracted to him, Alex wrestles with the fear that her books pale beside his celebrated work.

When a surprising family connection unearths long-hidden truths about her past, Alex is forced to confront a lie that has shaped her life. Guided by the quiet wisdom of Ms. Kate, an elderly Gullah cleaning woman with losses of her own, Alex finds the strength to forgive truths long withheld, embrace her voice, and write the story only she can tell.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rhonda McKnight is the author of the 2025 Christy Award winning novel, BITTER AND SWEET, and the 2024 Emma Award winner, The Thing About Home. She has twenty-eight books, including other award-winning, bestselling romances. She currently writes book club fiction set in the South Carolina Lowcountry for an imprint at HarperCollins Publishing. Originally from a small coastal town in New Jersey, she writes from the comfort of her Midlands South Carolina home..

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Celebrate the release of This Is How You Love Her with Traci Saulsberry!

EVENT DEETS

When: Sunday, September 27 @ 6 PM CST

Where: 2310 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77004

How:

• RSVP ONLY to reserve your seat.
• RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your seat and purchase a copy This Is How You Love Her, supporting both the author and our store programming. The book will be available for pickup at the event.

Please Note: Books purchased from other retailers are not permitted in the bookstore and are not eligible for the signing or photo line. To participate in the signing and photo opportunity, you must purchase a copy from Kindred Stories. If you already purchased your book from Kindred Stories, you may select the RSVP Only ticket option and bring your Kindred Stories copy to the event.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If your book is not retrieved it will be returned to the publisher and will not be available for pick up in the future.

ABOUT THE BOOK

A fiercely candid, funny, and sometimes heartbreaking blend of memoir and self-help on vulnerability, identity, and reclaiming your life

What if you didn't need Bali to find yourself? For 14 years, Traci Saulsberry led communications at NBC, becoming one of the youngest Black executives at the company. She had everything a modern woman is told to want—the house, her son, the high-powered job.

But when her carefully constructed life collapsed, Saulsberry was confronted with a question she'd been avoiding for years: Who was she, really?

Here I was, caught on my heels, with no backup lover to pick up the slack. Naturally, because I am a product of an adolescence spent binging rom-coms filled with sweeping tales, I wanted to run away and leave it all behind. I romanticized that there must be a flight to the farthest island on the edge of the world where I could just start over again. My archnemesis, reality, quickly snapped me out of that daydream. I wasn't going anywhere. I felt trapped.

This Is How You Love Her is a vulnerable narrative guide to uncovering your identity in life's small moments, right where you are. With wit and insight, heart and cinematic prose, Saulsberry weaves together pages from her journal, conversational guides, poetry, and reflection prompts in this memoir-meets-guide that gives readers permission to get to know themselves at their own pace.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Traci Saulsberry is a senior communications executive, leadership coach, and writer. At twenty-seven, she became one of the youngest Black executives at NBC, where she spent fourteen years shaping narratives at the highest levels of entertainment. She later built and led the communications team at Peacock, managing a team of more than thirty people during the platform’s launch and growth.

She is currently a host and narrator for Calm, the world’s leading meditation and sleep app, where she guides original series including Workplace Wellbeing, Professional Growth, and Processing World Events, designed to help audiences navigate life with clarity and care.

As a leadership coach, keynote speaker, and learning facilitator, Saulsberry works with early-career professionals, executives, and business owners, with a focus on helping individuals find and own their voice—particularly while navigating spaces where they are underrepresented. She also serves as an adjunct professor at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, where she teaches entertainment publicity.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Dee Brown is a former television reporter and producer, media personality, and founder of Happy + Home Collective, a boutique media agency specializing in home and garden PR, social marketing campaigns, production, and storytelling. Her background in television and brand communications has given her a passion for telling the stories behind beautiful spaces, the people who create them, and the transformations that make a house feel like home. Dee’s work and expertise have been featured by leading media outlets and platforms, including HGTV, NBC, Oprah Daily, and FOX SOUL, among others.

Celebrate Radical Tenderness: The Journey Back to Me-How to pause, heal, and come home to yourself with Lakeisha D. Gatling PHD, LCSW!

EVENT DEETS

When: Friday, October 16 @ 6:30 PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St. Houston, TX 77004)

How: 

• RSVP ONLY to reserve your spot for the worksop.

• RSVP WITH BOOK to reserve your spot for the workshop and purchase a copy Radical Tenderness supporting both the author and our store programming. The book will be available for pickup at the event.

• RSVP BUT I ALREADY HAVE THE BOOK to reserve your spot for the workshop and bring your copy of Radical Tenderness that you purchased from another retailer. 

Please Note: Books purchased from other retailers are not permitted in the bookstore and are not eligible for the signing or photo line. To participate in the signing and photo opportunity, you must either purchase a copy from Kindred Stories or select the RSVP: I Already Have the Book ticket option, which allows you to bring a copy purchased elsewhere. If you already purchased your book from Kindred Stories, you may select the RSVP Only ticket option and bring your Kindred Stories copy to the event.

If you purchase a ticket and are unable to attend the event, your ticket is non-refundable. If your ticket includes a book, an email will be sent to all attendees before and after the event with instructions on how to receive your book. Books must be claimed within 14 days following the event. If your book is not retrieved it will be returned to the publisher and will not be available for pick up in the future.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Radical Tenderness is a sacred invitation to slow down, soften, and return to yourself.

Blending personal narrative, gentle guidance, and reflective practices, Dr. Lakeisha Gatling offers a deeply human exploration of what it means to heal after years of surviving, striving, and carrying more than your share. Through stories of childhood responsibility, anxiety, grief, faith, identity, and rediscovering her own voice, she illuminates the quiet ways we learn to shrink, over-function, or stay strong at the expense of our own well-being.

With honesty and compassion, she guides readers through the tender terrain of unlearning hyper-independence, honoring the younger self, reclaiming emotional safety, and choosing healing as a daily act of self-love. Each chapter offers invitations to pause, breathe, reflect, and reconnect with the parts of yourself that have long been silenced or overlooked.

This book is not a manual-it's a mirror. A soft landing. A companion for anyone who has ever whispered their pain, hidden their needs, or believed they had to hold everything together alone.

Radical Tenderness reminds you that your healing matters, your story deserves space, and you are worthy of rest, softness, and radical self-compassion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Lakeisha Gatling is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, inspirational speaker, and visionary healer with over 15 years of experience in the mental health field. She is the founder of LDGatling Counseling & Consulting, PLLC, a Houston-based psychotherapy
practice providing individual mental wellness counseling, psychoeducation, and consulting services tailored for clinicians seeking clarity and soulful alignment in their work.

Dr. Gatling cultivates a non-judgmental, person-centered environment where
clients discover tools for emotional attunement and resilience. Through intentional
guidance, she supports outcomes such as stress reduction, anxiety and depression relief, and burnout recovery—while encouraging work-life balance and
mindfulness.