Join us to celebrate the release of Decent People with Center for Fiction First Novel Prize winner, De'Shawn Charles WInslow & MacArthur Genius Grant Fellow, Kiese Laymon. 

EVENT DEETS

When: January 18 at 7PM CST

Where: Kindred Stories Reading Garden, 2304 Stuart Street, Houston, TX 77004

How: RSVP for a free ticket or RSVP with book to support the author and our programming. 

ABOUT DECENT PEOPLE

From prizewinning author De’Shawn Charles Winslow, a sweeping and unforgettable novel of a Black community reeling from a triple homicide, and the secrets the killings reveal.

In the still-segregated town of West Mills, North Carolina, in 1976, Marian, Marva, and Lazarus Harmon—three enigmatic siblings—are found shot to death in their home. The people of West Mills— on both sides of the canal that serves as the town’s color line—are in a frenzy of finger-pointing, gossip, and wonder. The crime is the first reported murder in the area in decades, but the white authorities don’t seem to have any interest in solving the case.

Fortunately, one person is determined to do more than talk. Miss Josephine Wright has just moved back to West Mills from New York City to retire and marry a childhood sweetheart, Olympus “Lymp” Seymore. When she discovers that the murder victims are Lymp’s half-siblings, and that Lymp is one of West Mills’s leading suspects, she sets out to prove his innocence. But as Jo investigates those who might know the most about the Harmons’ deaths, she starts to discover more secrets than she’d ever imagined, and a host of cover-ups—ranging from medical misuse to illicit affairs—that could upend the reputations of many.

For readers of American Spy and Bluebird, Bluebird, Decent People is a powerful new novel about shame, race, money, and the reckoning required to heal a fractured community.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Celebrate the release of Communication Skills for Healthier Boundaries with Dr. LaToya S. Gilmore!

EVENT DEETS

When: Thursday, May 8 @ 7PM

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

Stop People-Pleasing and Start Setting Healthier Boundaries Now

Do you feel resentful because you didn’t speak up? Do find yourself saying yes when you really mean no, only to burn out later? Or maybe frustration builds, leading to blowups that push people away? In Communication Skills for Healthier Boundaries, licensed psychotherapist Dr. LaToya S. Gilmore addresses the struggles many face when they can’t express their needs, often resorting to either giving in or losing control.

This book provides essential tools to break free from these patterns and communicate with clarity and confidence. Learn how to set firm, healthy boundaries without guilt and honor yourself without fear of conflict. Tackling either people-pleasing or explosive reactions, Dr. Gilmore’s practical guidance will help you build and maintain fulfilling relationships without compromising your well-being.

Communication Skills for Healthier Boundaries includes:

* Verbal and nonverbal communication skills and activities. Attain lifelong skill sets to build assertiveness, confidence, and self-awareness.
* Real-life dialogue scripts. Practice setting and asserting boundaries at your own pace while finding your communication style.
* Easy implementation in two parts. Learn core communication skills in the first part of the book, and then apply these skills in the second part, which features common scenarios where boundaries are challenged in everyday life, rela

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. LaToya S. Gilmore is a licensed therapist, educator, consultant, writer, and speaker. She inspires those she works with to intentionally integrate self-care and healthy boundaries in their daily lives and is an advocate for ending the stigma related to seeking therapy. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Prairie View A&M University and a doctorate in counselor education from Texas Southern University. Her master’s degree in marriage and family therapy was earned at Fuller Theological Seminary. She resides in Houston, Texas.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Kandice Ewing is a lifelong Houston resident and a dedicated co-leader at the Fellowship of Love Church for over 20 years. Recently, Kandice earned a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Houston Christian University and is now a Licensed Professional Counselor-Associate. Believing that therapy is her true calling, Kandice is committed to supporting individuals, groups, and couples experiencing mental distress, emotional dysregulation, and life stressors.

With expertise in areas such as grief and loss, depression, suicidal ideation, anxiety, spiritual struggles, relationships, boundaries, assertiveness, and self-esteem, Kandice takes an eclectic therapeutic approach and tailors’ treatment to meet each client's unique needs.

Passionate about guiding others on their wellness journey, Kandice is dedicated to fostering healing and personal growth in a compassionate and supportive environment.

Kindred Stories, Solid State Books,  Cafe Con Libros, and Shelves Bookstore presents Good Morning, Love with Ashley M. Coleman & Pauleanne Reid. 

Event Deets

When: June 22 @ 6:30PM CST

Where: Virtual via Crowdcast

How:  Register on this page or head over to register on Crowdcast directly using this link.  If you register using our website (with or without purchasing the book) and not Crowdcast, you will register a Crowdcast watch link at least 24 hours before the start of the event.

About the Book

Carlisa “Carli” Henton is a musician and songwriter hoping to follow in her father’s musical footsteps. But, biding her time until she makes it big in the music industry, she works as a junior account manager at a big-name media company to cover her New York City rent. Carli meticulously balances her work with her musical endeavors as a songwriter—until a chance meeting with rising star Tau Anderson sends her calculated world into a frenzy. Their worlds collide and quickly blur the strict lines Carli has drawn between her business and her personal life, throwing Carli’s reputation—and her burgeoning songwriting career—into question.

About the Author

Ashley M. Coleman is a freelance writer and music executive from Philadelphia. Working in the music industry for over ten years, she has also written for Essence, The Cut, Apartment Therapy, and GRAMMY.com among others. In 2017, she launched a writing community for BIPOC writers entitled Permission to Write. 

About the Moderator 

Pauleanna Reid is a celebrity ghostwriter who helps high-profile leaders and doers turn their personal stories into powerful brand assets. She founded The WritersBlok, a full-service ghostwriting agency composed of a team of content ninjas responsible for some of the most talked-about pop culture moments, books and noteworthy speeches. Pauleanna is Senior Contributor at Forbes and Business Insider where she reports on female leaders who are shaping the future. Pauleanna penned her debut novel, Everything I Couldn’t Tell My Mother, a loose adaptation of her life story. If she isn’t holding a pen or fostering next-generation leaders, Pauleanna is re-imagining a new world and crafting an exciting one of her own. 

The long-awaited reissue of Alice Coltrane’s original spiritual teachings and reflections, which provide powerful insight into her transcendent music, cherished by millions across the globe 

ALICE COLTRANE (1937–2007) was a composer, master of various musical instruments, improviser, spiritual leader, and wife of John Coltrane. Throughout her adult life, she worked within and combined a broad range of musical genres, including gospel, R&B, bebop, free jazz, Indian devotional song, and Western art music. She recorded more than twenty full-length albums for Impulse and Warner Bros. Her music speaks to her experiences as a child playing for church congregations in Detroit; the transcendent and mind-bending avant-garde improvisations she performed with her husband John Coltrane; and her religious pilgrimages to India. 

When Monument Eternal was originally published in 1977, Alice Coltrane was living in Southern California and had recently become a swami, building and nurturing an alternative spiritual community. In these pages, she says that the book is “based upon the soul’s realizations in Absolute Consciousness and its spiritual relationships with the Supreme One.” Monument Eternal offers deep insight into Coltrane’s tremendous musical output, and shines a light on her transformation from Alice McLeod, Detroit church organist and bebopper, to sage thought leader Swami Turiyasangitananda. It also reflects the extraordinary fluidity of American religious customs in the mid and late twentieth century. 

Akashic’s long-awaited reissue of Monument Eternal includes a new foreword by Ashley Kahn.

Encourage kids to find their unique voice and share it confidently with this inspirational story from Pentatonix (PTX) musical performer Kevin Olusola. A self-proclaimed "misfit," Kevin knows what it's like to be different, to have a talent others don't understand, and to find the courage to stand out.

On a regular morning getting ready for school, Kasey discovers that he can make some not-so-regular sounds with his mouth. Snares, cymbals, bass drums—he can do it all! With every beat, Kasey learns that his voice matters and to never stop sharing his gift with the world.

This upbeat and uplifting Own Voices picture book for 4 to 8 year olds . . .

* assures children that the things that make them different make them special;
* encourages kids to embrace their gifts and develop their talents;
* inspires readers to use their abilities and passions to make a difference; and
* includes an author's note from Kevin's heart about how he found the courage to be the perfect kind of different that God made him to be.

With bright, energetic art and lots of fun, rhythmic sounds, this affirming book tells kids that they are not alone and that the world needs who they were created to be.

Join us for our monthly book club. Our August pick is Zyla and Kia by Kristina Forest.

Book club will happen Wednesday, September 25 at 7:00 PM in the Kindred Stories Reading Garden. RSVP required. See ya'll there!

About the Book

A fresh love story about the will they, won't they—and why can't they—of first love. 

While on a school trip to the Poconos Mountains (in the middle of a storm) high school seniors, Zyla Matthews and Kai Johnson, run away together leaving their friends and family confused. As far as everyone knows, Zyla and Kai have been broken up for months. And honestly? Their break up hadn't surprised anyone. Zyla and Kai met while working together at an amusement park the previous summer, and they couldn't have been more different.
 
Zyla was a cynic about love. She'd witnessed the dissolution of her parents' marriage early in life, and it left an indelible impression. Her only aim was graduating and going to fashion school abroad. Until she met Kai.
 
Kai was a serial dater and a hopeless romantic. He'd put a temporary pause on his dating life before senior year to focus on school and getting into his dream HBCU. Until he met Zyla.
 
Alternating between the past and present, we see the love story unfold from Zyla's and Kai's perspectives: how they first became the unlikeliest of friends over the summer, how they fell in love during the school year, and why they ultimately broke up... Or did they?
 
Romantic, heart-stirring, and a little mysterious, Zyla & Kai will keep readers guessing until the last chapter. 

Let's celebrate a few of the new-ish Black women mystery writers! 

EVENT DEETS

When: Monday, August 11, 2025 @ 6:30 PM CT

Where: Virtual! Sign up and we'll send you the link to the Zoom. 

How: RSVP ONLY to get the link to the Zoom! RSVP WITH BUNDLE to get a copy of each of the authors' book and support the bookstore!

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Zoe B. Wallbrook is a recently tenured professor whose academic research has appeared in outlets such as the New York Times and The New Yorker. She was selected for mentorship by LA Times bestseller Elizabeth Little, and History Lessons, her first novel, was a runner-up for the Eleanor Taylor Bland Award. Zoe’s hobbies include beginning all emails with, “My sincerest apologies for my slow reply,” pretending to understand how astrological signs work, and crying at the end of every Call the Midwife episode. She and her husband live with their stalker, a black lab/pittie mix named Sophie.

SANDRA JACKSON-OPOKU is the author of Hot Johnny and the Women Who Loved Him and the award-winning novel The River Where Blood is Born. She also coedited the anthology Revise the Psalm: Work Celebrating the Writing of Gwendolyn Brooks. Her fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic works have been published and produced in Adi Magazine, Midnight & Indigo, Aunt Chloe, Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction, New Daughters of Africa, Obsidian, storySouth, the Chicago Humanities Festival, and others.

Elise Bryant is the NAACP Image Award-nominated author of Happily Ever Afters, One True Loves, Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling, and It’s Elementary. For many years, Elise had the joy of working as a special education teacher, and now she spends her days reading, writing, and eating dessert. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Long Beach, California. You can visit her online at www.elisebryant.com.

A Better Way to Live Is Within Reach

Number one national bestselling author and trusted financial expert Anthony O'Neal provides the practical tools and everyday habits needed to build margin even if you're starting from zero. Drawing from his own story and years of coaching thousands toward financial freedom, Anthony shows you how to create real breathing room and finally take control of your money. Through simple, proven steps, you'll learn how to:

* Stabilize your finances and cast a vision for the goals that will guide you forward
* Eliminate all consumer debt and regain control of your spending
* Save three to six months of take-home pay and create habits that protect your progress
* Invest with confidence so your money starts working harder than you do
* Pay off your home, lock in your family's legacy, and start building wealth that blesses the people you love most

If you're tired of the stress and exhaustion of barely getting by, this book offers a proven roadmap to break the cycle for good. You don't need more shame. You need a plan and someone to walk with you while you take the first step. This is your fresh start.

A Hands-On Tool for Mastering Your Money

You've read the plan. Now it's time to live the plan. The Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck Study Guide is the practical step-by-step companion that helps you apply Anthony O'Neal's proven system to your everyday life so you can get organized, gain control, and finally move forward with confidence.

This workbook gives you the tools and encouragement you need to:

* Identify the beliefs and behaviors keeping you stuck
* Stabilize your finances and clarify the goals that matter most
* Eliminate all consumer debt using a simple step-by-step plan
* Build and protect your emergency fund
* Start investing with confidence and momentum
* Create a long-term vision for the generational wealth you want to build

As you work through each section, you'll build the habits and discipline needed to stop the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle and step into lasting financial freedom. This is the hands-on support you need to take your first step and keep going until you break the cycle for good.

Common Prayer Pocket Edition helps individuals and today's diverse church pray together across traditions and denominations. With an ear to the particulars of various liturgical prayer traditions, and using an advisory team of liturgy experts, the authors have created a tapestry of prayer that celebrates the best of each tradition. This convenient and portable book also includes tools for prayer scattered throughout to aid those unfamiliar with liturgy and deepen the prayer life of those already familiar with liturgical prayer. Common Prayer Pocket Edition adds new prayers for compline (late evening) and for individual use, such as prayers for travel, protection, and various blessings. It includes a table of days and readings for the morning prayers as well as an annotated list of saints and days to remember. Churches and individuals who desire a deeper prayer life--and those familiar with Shane Claiborne and New Monasticism--will enjoy the tools offered in this book as a fresh take on liturgy.