186 results for “by A.E. Valdez”

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  • November Adult Book Club: The Sun of Mr. Suleman by Eric Jerome Dickey
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    Join us for our monthly book club meeting!
    This month, we will be reading Erick Jerome Dickey's last novel, The Son of Mr. Suleman. 
    MEETING Deets
    When: November 30 at 7:00 PM
    Where: Kindred Stories Reading Garden 
    How: RSVP to reserve your spot or RSVP with book to reserve you spot and support our store. 
    About the Book
    It’s the summer of 2019, and Professor Pi Suleman is a Black man from Memphis with a lot to endure—not only as a Black man in Trump’s America but in his hard-earned career as an adjunct professor. Pi is constantly forced to bite his tongue in the face of one of his tenured colleague’s prejudices and microaggressions. At the same time, he’s being blackmailed by a powerful professor who threatens to claim he has assaulted her, when in fact the truth is just the opposite, trapping him in a he-said-she-said with a white woman that, in this society, Pi knows he will never win.
     
    When he meets Gemma Buckingham, a sophisticated entrepreneur who has just moved to Memphis from London to escape a deep heartbreak, things begin to look up. Though Gemma and Pi hail from separate cultures, their differences fuel a fiery and passionate connection that just may consume them both.
     
    But Pi’s whirlwind romance is interrupted when his absentee father, a celebrated writer, passes away and Pi is called to Los Angeles to both collect his inheritance and learn about the man who never acknowledged him. With the complicated legacy of his famous father to make sense of, Gemma’s visa expiration date looming, and the threats of his colleague becoming increasingly intense, Pi must figure out who he is and what kind of man he will become in his father’s shadow.
     
    In The Son of Mr. Suleman, Eric Jerome Dickey takes readers on a powerful journey exploring racism, colorism, life as a mixed-race person, sexual assault, microaggressions, truth and lies, cultural differences, politics, family legacies, perceptions, the impact of enslavement and Jim Crow, code-switching, the power of death, and the weight of love. It is an extraordinary story, page-turning and intense, and a book only Dickey could write
  • IRL AUTHOR TALK: Into the Light with Mark Oshiro & N.E. Davenport-April 22 at 6 PM CST
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    Come talk mystery and fantasy with Mark Oshiro & N.E. Davenport!
    EVENT DEETS
    When: April 22 at 6PM CST
    Where: Kindred Stories Reading Garden
    How: RSVP ONLY to grab a free ticket or RSVP WITH BOOK to support store programming and that author

    ABOUT THE BOOK
    KEEP YOUR SECRETS CLOSE TO HOME
    It’s been one year since Manny was cast out of his family and driven into the wilderness of the American Southwest. Since then, Manny lives by self-taught rules that keep him moving—and keep him alive. Now, he’s taking a chance on a traveling situation with the Varela family, whose attractive but surly son, Carlos, seems to promise a new future.

    Eli abides by the rules of his family, living in a secluded community that raised him to believe his obedience will be rewarded. But an unsettling question slowly eats away at Eli’s once unwavering faith in Reconciliation: Why can’t he remember his past?

    But the reported discovery of an unidentified body found in the hills of Idyllwild, California, will draw both of these young men into facing their biggest fears and confronting their own identity—and who they are allowed to be.

    For fans of Courtney Summers and Tiffany D. Jackson, Into the Light is a ripped-from-the-headlines story with Oshiro's signature mix of raw emotions and visceral prose—but with a startling twist you’ll have to read to believe.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    MARK OSHIRO is the award-winning Latinx queer author of Anger Is a Gift, Each of Us a Desert, as well as their middle grade books The Insiders and You Only Live Once, David Bravo. They are the coauthor (with Rick Riordan) of the upcoming Nico di Angelo adventure book. When not writing, they are trying to pet every dog in the world.

    ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

    N. E. Davenport is the Science Fiction/Fantasy author of the Blood Gift duology. She attended the University of Southern California and studied Biological Sciences and Theatre Arts. She also has an M.A. in Secondary Education. She teaches English and Biology to amazing students. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys vacationing with her family, skiing, and being a huge foodie. She’s an advocate for diverse perspectives and protagonists in literature. You can find her on Twitter @nia_davenport, or on Instagram @nia.davenport, where she talks about binge-worthy TV, killer movies, and great books. She lives in Texas with her husband and kids

  • IRL Author Talk: Sensual Faith with Lyvonne Briggs & Wale-April 5 @7PM CST
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    Learn about the art of coming home to your body with Lyvonne Briggs!

    EVENT DEETS

    When: April 5 @ 7PM CST

    Where: 3719 Navigation Blvd, HTX 77003 (Holy Family HTX)

    How: RSVP ONLY to grab your free ticket or support our programming, author, and store by RSVP WITH BOOK. 

    ABOUT THE BOOK

    An invitation for women to discover a healthier approach to spirituality and sexuality that centers pleasure rather than shame, from body- and sex-positive preacher and author Lyvonne Briggs

    “Home is not an address. Home is where you feel safe. And your body is aching to be your home.”

    How you view your body and your sexuality is informed and strengthened by spiritual practices, but how many of us can say that religion has drawn us closer to our bodies? That’s because worship spaces that are intended to be spiritual safe houses have not historically been welcoming to our bodies, forcing us to leave our flesh at the door. This ideological amputation is at best a disservice and at worst a sin. The remedy? Radical self-hospitality.

    In Sensual Faith, Lyvonne Briggs charts a path for us to practice spiritual wellness that aligns and harmonizes our bodies with pleasure and sexuality. By centering the rich traditions of ancient West African spirituality, Sensual Faith offers a radically inclusive model of companioning one’s self. Filled with wellness rituals, journal prompts, affirmations, and practices, Sensual Faith shows us how to celebrate our bodies as our very homes.

    “Pleasure is your birthright,” writes Briggs, so whether it’s accepting your flesh, nurturing your intuition, learning the language of consent, or sumptuous self-care, let radical self-hospitality guide you to healthy sexuality.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Lyvonne Briggs, MDiv, ThM, an Emmy Award winner, is a body- and sex-positive womanist preacher, speaker, coach, and creator. Briggs is the host of the Sensual Faith podcast and the founder of beautiful scars, a healing- centered storytelling
    agency focused on fostering pleasure and resiliency; visionary of The Proverbial Experience; and now curator of Sensual Faith Sunday, a series of virtual spiritual gatherings to nourish your soul. She has been featured in Essence, Cosmopolitan, Rolling Stone, and The Washington Post, and Sojourners named her one of “11 Women Shaping the Church.” Briggs, a New York City native and proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, is currently based in New Orleans, Louisiana.

    ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

    Wale (@theehotgirlbooks)is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor working with folks in New York and Texas. She has a double masters degree in mental health counseling from Teachers College Columbia University. After practicing in New York for a few years, Wale moved back to her hometown Houston and started her own therapy practice in 2020. Wale currently works with individuals and couples on a weekly basis.

  • In My Book Era - Enamel Pin
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    Celebrate your bookish era in style with our exclusive “In My Book Era” enamel pin. Thoughtfully designed for readers who take pride in their stories, this pin perfectly captures the joy, calm, and confidence of getting lost in a good read.

    This vibrant pin adds a joyful pop to totes, jean jackets, lanyards, or your favorite book bag. Its sturdy backing ensures it stays secure through every bookstore visit, author event, and cozy reading session.

    Whether you’re gifting it to a fellow reader or treating yourself, this pin is a charming reminder to stay unapologetically in your book era—today and always.

    A must-have accessory for book lovers, Kindred fam, and nyone who believes in the magic of representation on the page and beyond.

    Size: 1.5 " 

  • IN PERSON AUTHOR TALK: Decent People with De'Shawn Charles Winslow & Kiese Laymon-January 18 @ 7PM CST
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    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

    De'Shawn Charles Winslow is the author of In West Mills, a Center for Fiction First Novel Prize winner, an American Book Award recipient, a Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction winner, and a Los Angeles Times Book Award, Lambda Literary Award, and Publishing Triangle Award finalist. He was born and raised in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

    ABOUT CONVERSATION PARTNER

    Kiese Laymon is a Black southern writer from Jackson, Mississippi. Laymon is the Libby 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. Kiese Laymon was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2022.
  • IRL Author Talk: If My Flowers Bloom with DeShara Suggs - Joe - May 24 @ 6:30PM
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    Celebrate the release of If My Flowers Bloom with DeShara Suggs!

    EVENT DEETS

    When: Friday, May 24 at 6:30 PM

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

    How: RSVP ONLY to serve your seat or RSVP WITH BOOK to support the author and our programming. 

    This event is in collaboration with OQUPI HTX.

    ABOUT THE BOOK

    If My Flowers Bloom is about desire. Is there room to bloom or does the harvest only come in the afterlife? Is it okay to be Black and queer and woman in this world?

    Overflowing with love and aching for more space, DeShara Suggs-Joe questions the powers that be while longing for space carved out for her flourishing.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    DeShara is a queer, Black poet and visual artist. She co-founded Daughter’s Tongue (an all-women writing collective), worked as the Creative Director of Workshops at Winter Tangerine, and is a former member of the Youth Speaks Collective. She received her MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts and fellowships from Callaloo, the Poetry Incubator, and Pink Door. In 2021, she was nominated for “Best of the Net.” She has published poems in Apogee Lit, Voicemail Poems, Tinderbox Journal, The Texas Review, and elsewhere. She has also been featured on Button Poetry’s YouTube platform and has performed at the likes of Spotify, Yahoo, and Pinterest


  • My Voice Is a Beat cover image
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    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.

  • Common Prayer Pocket Edition: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals cover image
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    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.

  • Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck Study Guide: The Proven Path to Break Free from Debt, Build Real Wealth, and Live Free on Any Income cover image
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    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.

  • Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck: The Proven Path to Break Free from Debt, Build Real Wealth, and Live Free on Any Income cover image
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    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.

  • Contend: Standing Boldly for Biblical Truth While Winning the War Within cover image
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    The call to follow Christ was never a call to passive belief.

    In Contend, Philip Anthony Mitchell, founder and lead pastor of 2819 Church in Atlanta, unpacks Jude's urgent letter—a warning written to a Church under siege from false teachers, compromise, and spiritual laziness—and proves it's still our reality today.

    Countless Believers are still sitting on the sidelines, assuming they'll have another day to get serious about the Faith.

    But the days of casual Christianity are running out.

    Mitchell refuses to let the Church stay passive, and he reminds every Believer that the same Christ who saved you has also equipped you to fight. Through Contend, you will be inspired to:

    * Rediscover the passion and purpose of your Faith.
    * Trade spiritual complacency for a vibrant relationship with Jesus.
    * Boldly proclaim the Gospel with love and grace.
    * Find freedom from sin, disbelief, insecurities, and unforgiveness.
    * Disciple and prepare the next generation to stand firm and press on.

    Each chapter ends with a "Takeaway Truth" to anchor you in Scripture and a "Contender's Charge" to move you into action—because Faith isn't just believing but living out the Gospel.

    The question isn't whether the Faith is worth fighting for.

    The question is whether you will contend!

  • 2025 Buzzed Adult Spelling Bee: Black History Month Edition - February 16 @ 6PM
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    WE'RE BACK BABY!!!!!!!!!!!

    Join us for the 4th Buzzed Adult Spelling Bee presented by Babe Events and Kindred Stories, sponsorship by the Third Ward Cultural District and Brugal 1888!

    EVENT DEETS

    When: Sunday, February 16 @ 6 PM (Doors open at 5 PM)

    Where: Eldorado Ballroom (2310 Elgin Street, HTX, 77004)

    How: There are two different ticket options. If you would like to attend and enjoy the show, purchase your ticket as an attendee. If you would like to contest as the spelling bee champ, grab your ticket as a contestant. Both tickets come with three drinks. THIS EVENT IS FOR ADULTS (21+) ONLY! 

    Tickets are final sale and non refundable. You will not be allowed to transfer tickets. 

    ABOUT THE SPELLING BEE 

    Contestants will be asked to spell words that speak to the theme of Black History Month including slang and AAVE over the course of four rounds. If you misspell the word, you are out!  As the words get harder, you might be able to Phone a Friend or Battle to earn your place back into the competition. Fun and music-filled, this event is for folks looking for something BLACKITY BLACK to do on a Sunday night! 

    Be mindful that you don't have to participate in the Bee. We definitely need an audience! 

    Contact lanise.harris@gmail.com or chanecka@kindredstorieshtx.com for more details.

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