“A gracefully told and sharply observed debut." -Kiley Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Such a Fun Age and Come and Get It

For readers of Americanah, a heart-rending debut novel about a Nigerian immigrant as she tries to find her place at home and in America-a powerful epic about love, grief, family, and belonging.

The Tiny Things are Heavier follows Sommy, a Nigerian woman who comes to the United States for graduate school two weeks after her brother, Mezie, attempts suicide. Plagued by the guilt of leaving Mezie behind, Sommy struggles to fit into her new life as a student and an immigrant. Lonely and homesick, Sommy soon enters a complicated relationship with her boisterous Nigerian roommate, Bayo, a relationship that plummets into deceit when Sommy falls for Bryan, a biracial American, whose estranged Nigerian father left the States immediately after his birth. Bonded by their feelings of unbelonging and a vague sense of kinship, Sommy and Bryan transcend the challenges of their new relationship.

After some time together, Sommy and Bryan visit the bustling city of Lagos, Nigeria for the summer break, where Sommy hopes to reconcile with Mezie and Bryan hopes to connect with his father. But when a shocking and unexpected event throws their lives into disarray, it exposes the cracks in Sommy's relationships and forces her to confront her notions of self and familial love.

A daring and ambitious novel rendered in stirring, tender prose, The Tiny Things Are Heavier is a captivating portrait that explores the hardships of migration, the subtleties of Nigeria's class system, and how far we'll go to protect those we love.

An intimate look into the studios of twenty prominent Black artists working today, enlivening their art practice and creative lives through stunning photographs and exclusive interviews

‘Both a vital record of the present and a powerful testament to the legacies still being created.’ – Angela Bassett, actress, director, and producer

Another View: The Vibrant World of Contemporary Black Artists is a groundbreaking, intimate exploration of the studios, living spaces, and creative processes of twenty of today’s most notable Black artists. The book includes 150 never-before-published photographs taken by acclaimed artist Awol Erizku, presenting the ultimate behind-the-scenes tour of striking studios across the United States, works in progress by some of the world’s most creative people, and the objects and settings that inspire them. Exclusive profiles inspired by interviews with celebrated curator Isolde Brielmaier offer compelling personal advice and unique insights into the art world, giving readers an inside look at the role of art in society, perspectives on legacy, and what it means to be a Black artist today. An illuminating introduction by lauded scholar and critic Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the historical precedents and critical context that led to the exciting current moment of Black contemporary art in America.

Showcasing work across media – including painting, sculpture, textile, collage, photography, and more – the featured artists have won prestigious awards such as the Guggenheim Fellowship, MacArthur Fellowship, and National Endowment for the Arts grant, and are in the collections of leading institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Guggenheim. These artists represent a pivotal moment in American art history, where Black artists are gaining unprecedented institutional recognition and also fundamentally changing conversations about identity, history, and representation in contemporary art. This book captures a crucial juncture – not only showcasing the ways these artists think about their work, but also highlighting important, personal conversations about how their influence will shape the next generation of artists and the broader cultural landscape for decades to come.

Featured artists: Nina Chanel Abney; Derrick Adams; Sanford Biggers; Jordan Casteel; Nick Cave; Renee Cox; Leonardo Drew; Theaster Gates; Rashid Johnson; Titus Kaphar; Glenn Ligon; Kerry James Marshall; Xaviera Simmons; Lorna Simpson; Shinique Smith; Hank Willis Thomas; Mickalene Thomas; Nari Ward; Carrie Mae Weems; and Fred Wilson.

Trust yourself, honor your voice, and embrace your authentic self with this empowering workbook created specifically for Black women.

In a world that constantly pressures Black women to second-guess themselves, stay silent, or put everyone else first, building self-trust is a radical act of self-love. The Self-Trust for Black Women Workbook by Oludara Adeeyo is here to help you reconnect with your intuition, release self-doubt, and confidently show up as your full self.

Filled with 50 empowering exercises, affirmations, and reflection activities, this interactive workbook will help you become more decisive, assertive, self-assured, and unapologetic about your needs, feelings, and desires. Whether you’re learning to set boundaries, stop people-pleasing, heal from past experiences, or trust your inner voice again, each exercise is designed to help you strengthen your relationship with yourself.

You’ll discover prompts and activities that help you:
-Challenge limiting beliefs
-Practice trusting your intuition
-Embrace your authentic self
-And more!

It’s time to stop shrinking and start trusting the powerful woman you already are. With The Self-Trust for Black Women Workbook, you’ll build the confidence to choose yourself every single day.

The latest novel from Sefi Atta—the winner of the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa and the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa.

Sefi Atta strikes a conversational tone in this lighthearted novel about a group of spirited fifty something Nigerian American women in Atlanta. Yinka, their self- professed rational friend, gives an account of how they tried to matchmake their twenty something daughters, didn’t get the results they expected, but discovered more about their daughters and each other.

With incredible wit, humor, and clear-sightedness, Sefi Atta has given us a brilliant novel about identity, belonging, and female friendships.

Timnit Gebru, one of the fiercest voices in the world speaking truth to power, chronicles her journey as a refugee and Black woman in STEM—delivering an inspiring vision for better, human-centered, equitable technology.

Timnit Gebru has been present at nearly every inflection point in tech’s recent history. She was an engineer at Apple on the cusp of the iPhone’s first release, a PhD student at Stanford’s computer vision lab as her advisor worked on the enormous datasets so crucial to AI’s development, and the most senior Black woman on the Ethical AI team at Google as DeepMind and Open AI took over the field of artificial intelligence—where she was forced out for having raised the alarm about bias in large language models, causing global shockwaves in the tech industry.

Starting with her childhood during which she was forced to flee the 1998 Ethiopian-Eritrean war, through the fraught process of achieving refugee status, Gebru shows how her early love of science and math was inextricably intertwined with her belief that these were reliably objective safe spaces. Over time, through high school in Greater Boston, college at Stanford, and jobs at Apple, Microsoft, and Google, she came to realize that perhaps some of the biases and injustices she witnessed in her life outside of academics were true about technology, too.

Over the course of her life, Gebru has seen up close how the destructive ideologies and outsized egos of the tech world have come to wreak havoc on our environment, our economies, and the lives of billions of people. She has also come to understand how we could have made a different choice every step of the way, and how we still can.

Part memoir and part manifesto, Deep Unlearning is as much about ideology as it is about technology—and about how to privilege justice in both.

Reclaim your healing—and find the support you were never meant to go without after pregnancy and infant loss, birth trauma, or infertility.

After loss, many women are left navigating a silent, isolating grief—questioning their bodies, their faith, and their future. For Black women and women of color, this pain is often compounded by medical mistrust, systemic inequities, generational silence, and the unspoken expectation to remain strong.

But healing was never meant to happen in isolation.

In Never Healing Alone, grief and loss expert Erica Freeman, founder of Sisters in Loss, offers a compassionate, culturally responsive guide to life after loss—rooted in storytelling, sisterhood, and holistic healing.

Drawing from her own lived experience and the voices of more than 400 Black women, partners, and care providers, Freeman provides a powerful roadmap for navigating grief across the emotional, physical, spiritual, and communal layers of healing. This is not a book about “moving on.” It’s about learning how to heal forward—without abandoning yourself.

Inside, you’ll learn how to:

* Understand your grief through healing archetypes—so you can name what you’re feeling and why
* Release the pressure to be strong and begin telling the truth about your loss
* Build a circle of support through sisterhood, mentorship, and community care
* Reconnect with your body through holistic healing practices like meditation, acupuncture, and creative expression
* Advocate for your needs in healthcare, relationships, and the workplace with clarity and confidence

At a time when maternal health disparities continue to rise, Never Healing Alone is both a lifeline and a call to community. Because your grief is not a weakness. It is proof of your love. And you deserve to be held through it.

Oh Sis, You’re Pregnant! is the go-to guide for modern pregnant Black women. In this newly updated edition in a lovely giftable package, mothers-to-be will find the sister-to-sister guidance and expert insight on pregnancy, labor, and motherhood that readers have praised, cherished, and lived by for years.

This book is the essential “what to expect when you're expecting” guide to understanding pregnancy from a millennial Black mom’s point of view. Written by Black Moms Blog founder Shanicia Boswell Jones, this book tackles hard topics in a way that truly resonates with today’s Black moms-to-be.

You’ll find answers to questions on how to financially plan for birth, how to maintain relationships and friendships during motherhood, and how to self-advocate for your rights as a pregnant Black person. With stories and lessons learned from the author's own experiences through pregnancy, labor, and motherhood, Oh Sis, You’re Pregnant! also includes interviews with professionals like OBGYNs, midwives, nutritionists, and lactation consultants. It focuses on the common knowledge Black pregnant mothers should consider when having their first baby, while also sharing topics beneficial to pregnant Black women on their second, third, or fourth-born.

If you’re looking for a pregnancy guide that speaks to your experience, Oh Sis, You’re Pregnant is the book for you!

Learn about the remarkable work of costume designers, toy makers, and architects in award-winning author Tonya Bolden and illustrator David Wilkerson’s exciting new graphic novel series about some of the most fascinating Black lives in history

Ann Lowe (fashion designer). Ed Welburn (automotive designer). Ruth E. Carter (costume designer). These aren’t names that many people learn about in school, but they’re some of the greatest designers that people should know about―and they join the ranks of toy designers, architects, and graphic designers celebrated in Icons of Design.

Each faced challenges as they rose to the top of their professions, but they didn’t back down. They kept creating and experimenting and learning, and they made significant contributions in each of their fields!

Black Lives is a new graphic novel series from award-winning author Tonya Bolden and illustrator David Wilkerson that celebrates the lives of Black innovators and legends and helps bring lesser-known histories to life.

From nine-time Grammy Award–winning artist Anderson .Paak comes a kinky, surreal, and hilariously unhinged collection of stories about a fabled sex shop on Sunset Boulevard.

Peeps on Sunset is the last vestige for true freaks in Los Angeles. Rocco, the store’s reluctant heir, is yanked out of art school by his free-loving hippie parents to breathe new life into the struggling shop he grew up in. The store has questionable stains, dated design, and a weird hole in the bathroom. Now, Rocco has to fix it all while finding himself, not to mention field every fantasy and secret that walks through the door:

A woman has a dangerous sexual obsession with cactuses. A retiree Benjamin Buttons every time she has sex. A maid enjoys the perks of her job after walking in on her celebrity client mid-act. And nobody leaves the store unchanged.

Anderson .Paak’s first book lives somewhere between Goosebumps and Fifty Shades of Grey—a sexy and absurd fever-dream tour of modern desire that celebrate all the ways we come into ourselves. And each other.

Celebrate the release of Carla Bakes with Carla Hall!

EVENT DEETS

When: Friday, December 11 @ 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 of Carla Bakes, 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 bring your copy of Carla Bakes that you purchased from another retailer. 

Please Note: Copies of Carla Bakes purchased from other retailers are not permitted in the bookstore and are not eligible for the signing or photo line unless you 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

Acclaimed chef, TV host, Top Chef fan-favorite, and author Carla Hall returns to her first culinary love story—baking—with over 80 sweet and savory recipes.

For Carla Hall, baking is a creative outlet, her source of play, and her first true passion. But her journey from absolute beginner to Top Chef fan-favorite didn't start until she was well into her twenties with two careers— accounting and modeling —already behind her. Away from home and missing the Southern flavors she grew up with, she took to the kitchen and began to experiment, master, and perfect. 

Now, as a multi-cookbook author and guest judge on multiple baking competitions, Carla is ready to share all her baking knowledge that will guide you whether you're a novice baker or an expert one. Carla Bakes is filled with over 80 recipes for baking savory and sweet goods rooted in her Southern traditions and inspired by her world travels.  Carla brings her joy and playfulness to every recipe, showing you just how much fun it is to bake and bring your own twists to new recipes, including:

• breakfast treats like Sorghum Flour Drop Biscuits, Crisp Sweet Corn Waffles, and Savory Clafoutis with Tomatoes, Goat Cheese, and Smoky Tomato Curd
• cookies like Nut Butter Puffed Cereal Treats, Southern Pecan Crinkle Baklava, and Shortbread Cookie Canvas
• pastries like Giant Frosted Strawberry Pop Tart, Sweet Po-Punkin Pie, and Ham & Cheese Paris-Brest
• cakes like Double Chocolate Oat Flour Snack Cake, Lemon Meringue Cake, and Fairytale Forest Party Cake
• yeasted goods like Hot Cross Milk Buns with Port- and Hibiscus-Soaked Fruit, Butternut Squash Beignets with Spiced Sugar, and Chocolate Focaccia

If you've ever felt intimidated by baking, set those fears aside. Carla's expert guidance and encouragement in Carla Bakes will leave you feeling confident and inspired in your kitchen!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carla Hall first won over audiences on Bravo’s Top Chef, where her “cook with love” philosophy became her hallmark. Her belief that food connects us all, provides a through-line in her work both on and off camera. Carla charmed viewers as a co-host on ABC’s Emmy Award–winning The Chew for seven years, appearing on the Food Network on various baking shows and now on Next Level Baker on Fox. She is also the host of the Emmy-winning travel-food series Chasing Flavor on HBO Max. Carla is the author or co-author of five cookbooks—including the NAACP Image Award–nominated Carla Hall’s Soul Food—and two children’s books. She also hosts the hit podcast Chewed Up and created and stars in her acclaimed one-woman show, Carla Hall: Please Underestimate Me. Carla is active in many charitable endeavors and focuses her board member-level participation in organizations where she can make an impact advocating for children through Beyond Bedtime (formerly Pajama Program) and GENYOUth.

We're meeting to discuss The Tiny Things are Heavier by Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo!

BOOK CLUB MEETING DEETS

When: Wednesday, October 22 @ 7PM CST

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

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

ABOUT THE TINY THINGS ARE HEAVIER

“A gracefully told and sharply observed debut." -Kiley Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Such a Fun Age and Come and Get It

For readers of Americanah, a heart-rending debut novel about a Nigerian immigrant as she tries to find her place at home and in America-a powerful epic about love, grief, family, and belonging.

The Tiny Things are Heavier follows Sommy, a Nigerian woman who comes to the United States for graduate school two weeks after her brother, Mezie, attempts suicide. Plagued by the guilt of leaving Mezie behind, Sommy struggles to fit into her new life as a student and an immigrant. Lonely and homesick, Sommy soon enters a complicated relationship with her boisterous Nigerian roommate, Bayo, a relationship that plummets into deceit when Sommy falls for Bryan, a biracial American, whose estranged Nigerian father left the States immediately after his birth. Bonded by their feelings of unbelonging and a vague sense of kinship, Sommy and Bryan transcend the challenges of their new relationship.

After some time together, Sommy and Bryan visit the bustling city of Lagos, Nigeria for the summer break, where Sommy hopes to reconcile with Mezie and Bryan hopes to connect with his father. But when a shocking and unexpected event throws their lives into disarray, it exposes the cracks in Sommy's relationships and forces her to confront her notions of self and familial love.

A daring and ambitious novel rendered in stirring, tender prose, The Tiny Things Are Heavier is a captivating portrait that explores the hardships of migration, the subtleties of Nigeria's class system, and how far we'll go to protect those we love.

From one of the first and few women of color to reach the c-suite in Silicon Valley, Apple's former chief of HR, co-creator of the Apple Store culture, and first VP of inclusion and diversity, comes a heartfelt story of growing up Black and female in a world with little regard for either and a practical road map for embodying the best in yourself and emboldening others along the way.

From one of the first and few women of color to reach the C-suite in Silicon Valley, Apple's former chief of HR and first VP of inclusion and diversity, comes a heartfelt story of growing up Black and female in a world with little regard for either and a practical road map for embodying the best in yourself and emboldening others along the way.

"You will enjoy reading this book and benefit as a business leader but mostly as a member of the human race."-Ron Johnson, business leader Apple, Target, JCPenney

For her work as a co-creator of the Apple Store cultural experience, Denise Young has been deemed by leadership experts as one of the most emotionally intelligent leaders of her era. In this stirring narrative, part-memoir, part blueprint for action, she shares her vision of what it means to be truly seen at our places of work. As a "first and only" woman of color in boardrooms and leading roles across the Bay Area's booming tech industry, Denise was a trailblazer in a business that was never built for her. The first black and female senior executive under both Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, Denise was often in "the room where it happened." But within a white male-centric professional culture, she still had to work harder, smarter, and differently to be heard.

In When We Are Seen, Denise shares insights on using your own story, empathy, and intuition to unlock the potential in yourself and others. Her story serves as both solace and strategy for anyone who has ever felt left out, unseen, or ostracized; anyone interested in upending cycles of exclusion; and for those interested in reclaiming our agency in the ongoing quest to thrive and belong.

Denise argues that bringing your truest self to work-from wearing your beloved locs to sharing your artistic passion-and, in turn, holistically seeing the attributes others have to offer is not a passive experience; it is a specific skill we can and should build. And the result is a deeper understanding of what it means to be inclusive and powerfully human on the job.