A scorching second-chance romance between a talented screenwriter and a phenomenal musician from "a fantastic storyteller and superb writer." ―NPR

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?

The collected creative nonfiction of a singular American writer, Jesmyn Ward, including widely shared classics, three never-before-published speeches, and an introductory essay.

Respair (noun, obsolete), fresh hope after despair.

From the two-time National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author Jesmyn Ward, this collection of essays documents more than a decade of work in the life of a singular writer often lauded as “the heir apparent to Toni Morrison” (LitHub). Beginning with her upbringing in a multigenerational household in rural Mississippi, the cradle of both her youth and her gift for storytelling, Ward brings her keen wisdom and hauntingly lyrical prose to a range of topics, following in her grandmother Dorothy’s footsteps when she promises always to “Tell it straight. Tell it all.”

True to her word, in these pages Ward contemplates the writers and novels of her youth and adulthood—the transformative power of discovering Octavia Butler as a twenty-something, the mirror that Richard Wright’s novels held up to her own childhood, and of course, her lifelong love for Toni Morrison. Ward ruminates on her approach to both fiction and life, reflecting on the power of the novel, how to raise a Black son in an era of rising divisiveness and cruelty, as well as her own personal tragedies—including the titular essay of the collection, which tells the story of her partner’s sudden death on the eve of the COVID-19 epidemic. Every bit as piercing and moving as her fiction, On Witness and Respair is a testament to Ward’s powers as “one of America’s finest living writers” (San Francisco Chronicle) and is a monument to hope, beauty, and personal and collective resilience.

We're meeting to discuss The Conjuring of America by Lindsey Stewart!

BOOK CLUB MEETING DEETS

When: Tuesday, May 19 @ 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 THE CONJURING OF AMERICA 

PRE-ORDER: ON SALE DATE: September 1, 2026

The definitive photographic celebration of John Coltrane's life and music, featuring exclusive contributions written by Ravi Coltrane, Wayne Coyne, Dev Hynes, Phil Lesh, Julie Mehretu, Carlos Santana, and Patti Smith.

John Coltrane's impact on music and culture endures far beyond his prolific career and untimely death in 1967 at age forty. His masterful saxophone style and groundbreaking jazz compositions had a profound effect on the evolution of music through the decades, and it continues to resonate across styles and genres to this day.

This beautiful photography book offers an intimate and in-depth look at his life with over one hundred expertly curated images taken by renowned photographers such as Francis Wolff and Chuck Stewart. The selection includes outtakes from the album cover photoshoot for Ascension, in-studio candid shots taken during the recording of Blue Train, a glimpse backstage with Alice Coltrane before their first performance together, and more. Coltrane is a visual celebration of John Coltrane's musical legacy, complete with an introduction by his son and fellow musician Ravi Coltrane, along with personal stories from other musicians, artists, and writers who have been moved by his work.

“In a time of increasing loneliness, this book provides a steady guide, teaching us how to foster closeness, show up intentionally, and genuinely care for the people in our lives."—Nedra Glover Tawwab, author of Set Boundaries, Find Peace

From New York Times bestselling author Alexandra Elle comes a vulnerable exploration of the friendships that shape us, stretch us, and sometimes wound us. With her trademark wisdom and storytelling, Alex invites us to not only celebrate but to examine the relationships in our lives, from the friends who matter most to the ones we should re-examine.

This book offers hard-won wisdom on:

* Recognizing when people-pleasing and self-silencing have become a pattern.

* Understanding that honesty—while sometimes painful—is a bridge to real intimacy or necessary endings.

* Letting go of the belief that we earn love by shrinking ourselves.

* Honor the sacred friendships that restore and heal us.

The Company We Keep offers readers permission to evolve in their friendships and reminds us that the people we surround ourselves with are not only mirrors, but key companions on the lifelong journey of healing, self-trust, and belonging. Alex shares her unflinching journey of learning to stop abandoning herself in the name of loyalty, to take ownership of the energy she brought into relationships, and to tell the truth—even when it cost her comfort. The Company We Keep is not just about cultivating our most meaningful friendships—it’s about becoming a better friend to ourselves first.

Amy Sherald’s work, life, and significance for American art, as revealed in her powerful figurative paintings of Black subjects
 
Bringing together nearly all of her artwork to date, this lavishly illustrated volume situates the work of Amy Sherald (b. 1973) within the context of American realist and figurative painting. Encompassing the full arc of her career, from her poetic early works to the distinctive figure paintings and portraits that have become her hallmark, Amy Sherald: American Sublime unfolds her method of selecting individuals she meets on the street and using facial expression, body language, and clothing choices to create paintings that transcend portraiture and expand the canon of American art. Essays by curators Sarah Roberts and Rhea Combs; poet and writer Elizabeth Alexander; artist Dario Calmese; and renowned scholar Deborah Willis contextualize and illuminate Sherald’s creation of a new form of imaginative portraiture. Often depicting her subjects’ skin in gray monochrome, surrounded by few markers of place, time, or context beyond the clothes they wear, Sherald challenges the assumption that Black life is inextricably bound with struggle, creating images that engage in more expansive thinking about race and representation and the wide-open possibilities and complexities of every individual. Whether a passerby or the former first lady Michelle Obama, Sherald’s subjects are at ease with themselves, the world, and one another.
 
Published in association with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
 
Exhibition Schedule:
 
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
(November 16, 2024–March 9, 2025)
 
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
(April 9–August 3, 2025)
 
National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC
(September 2025–January 2026)

PRE-ORDER. ON SALE DATE: March 31, 2026

“Violent, smart, gruesome and wildly original, this novel pulls readers into a horrific world of murder and cannibalism while also critiquing misogyny, exploring Asian fetishization and stereotypes, sharing what it’s like to navigate two cultures and telling a touching story of a family in turmoil.” —New York Times Book Review

TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF THE YEAR

Crying in H-Mart meets My Sister, the Serial Killer in this brilliantly subversive, feminist psychological horror novel about the making of a female serial killer from a Korean-American perspective.

Ji-won’s life tumbles into disarray in the wake of her Appa’s extramarital affair and subsequent departure. Her mother, distraught. Her younger sister, hurt and confused. Her college freshman grades, failing. Her dreams, horrifying . . . yet enticing.

In them, Ji-won walks through bloody rooms full of eyes. Succulent blue eyes. Mouthwatering blue eyes. Eyes the same shape and shade as George’s, who is Umma’s obnoxious new boyfriend. He brags about his puffed-up consulting job, ogles Asian waitresses while dining out, and acts condescendingly toward Ji-won and her sister, as if he deserves all of Umma’s fawning adoration. But George doesn’t deserve anything from her family. Ji-won will make sure of that.

No matter how many victims accumulate around her campus or how many people she must deceive and manipulate, Ji-won’s hunger and her rage deserve to be sated.

"I was enticed from the first line and entertained throughout. The Eyes Are the Best Part is a quirky, engaging read."—Oyinkan Brainthwaite, author of My Sister, the Serial Killer

An exploration of how African American innovators and artists—whose impact and financial value in American music, movies, and TV is disproportionately greater than their numbers—have fought for and often won the rights to own and benefit from their own work.

When we think about the things that have barred success for African Americans, intellectual property law is hardly the first thing that comes to mind, if we even think of it all. We certainly don’t think of it as the launching pad for building generational wealth in the Black community, so it follows that we don’t see our favorite pop stars as revolutionary race warriors.

African American artists have finally, belatedly, come to be the owners of their art and beneficiaries of the money their art makes, after centuries of producing life-changing art. There were hundreds and thousands of Bessie Smiths before we ever got Beyoncé or Kendrick Lamar.

Lisa E. Davis, one of the foremost entertainment attorneys in the country, traces the epic journey Black Americans have been on, from being claimed as property to claiming the benefits of intellectual property. As she notes, “Under slavery, our minds were always free, but there was no profit from what our minds created.”

Beginning in the 18th century with the drafting of the Constitution and ending in the 21st century with a warning about the role technology will play in creative industries, Our Minds Were Always Free tells the story of the indelible legacy of Black American genius and the struggle to receive the credit and the profit that they deserved.

The widow of a tech mogul is determined to give her wealth away—and keep one secret from the journalist tasked with telling her story. A hot new take on the billionaire romance.

When Ndidi Davis’s husband unexpectedly dies, she’s left bereft—and with $2.1 billion in the bank. She channels her grief into launching a charitable foundation, but the endeavor is made more complicated by Geoffrey Campbell, an ambitious, perceptive journalist assigned to profile her philanthropic pursuit. Geoffrey’s reporting slowly uncovers Ndidi’s whole heart—and some parts of her past she’s worked hard to keep out of the public eye.

A magical girl-gone-bad and a renegade mech pilot must stay on a date forever, even if it means destroying the world. Don't you want to help them?

A Ms. Magazine Most Anticipated Feminist Book of 2026 • A them Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Book of 2026

"Delicious, insane, intoxicating." —Maya Deane, author of Wrath Goddess Sing

"This Is How You Lose the Time War but on crack." —Jace Molloy

Acrasia is in the ultimate long-distance relationship: with Opus Zhao, a man from another universe. She was a trans girl who was also an intergalactic moth-goddess. He was a trans guy who piloted a giant robotic tiger. They hated each other, then fell in love, then their universes moved apart. Now, years later, he's turned up in her dimension again. What won’t she do to keep him there? 

Combining Sailor Moon, Sex and the City, and House of Leaves, this riotous enemies-to-lovers romantasy roars off the page in the genre-exploding, galaxy-spanning, quick-quipping retro nostalgia futuristic thrill ride of a lifetime. Give in, succumb (you know you want to) to the unstoppable world of Plastic, Prism, Void.

PRE-ORDER: On Sale: May 26, 2026

A gorgeous illustrated meditation on the homes of iconic Southern women, from Nina Simone to Carson McCullers

In These Long Shadows, writer Monica Nelson excavates the domestic narratives and mythologies contained within the publicly preserved homes of some of the American South's leading cultural figures.
In Virginia, readers are drawn into the garden and home of Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer and encounter modernist architect Amaza Lee Meredith's International Style residence, Azurest South. Journeying south, they encounter the North Carolinian childhood homes of both influential civil rights activist Anna "Pauli" Murray, and revolutionary singer-songwriter Nina Simone. In Atlanta, readers wander into the apartment of incendiary Southern author Margaret Mitchell. In Louisiana, they gaze upon the quietly profound folk art paintings of Clementine Hunter at Melrose Plantation, and take a pilgrimage to writers' homes from the Southern Renaissance, including Flannery O'Connor, William Faulkner, Zora Neale Hurston and Carson McCullers.
These Long Shadows assembles a constellation of new visions, narratives and readings with which to examine the nation's ever-metamorphosing historical landscape. Nelson's book constitutes the third volume of The Illustrated America, Atelier Editions' ongoing anthropological survey of eclectic chapters drawn from 20th-century America's cultural past.
Monica Nelson is a writer and graphic designer based in New York and Savannah. She has developed strategic visual narratives for publications, cultural institutions and brands, working with over 100 photographers. She was the founding creative and photo director of Wilder Quarterly, which fostered a floral-drenched view of the natural world, and the author of Edible Flowers (Monacelli Press, 2021).

This emotional and lyrical picture book by acclaimed poet Zetta Elliott celebrates the importance of Juneteenth as well as the resilience of Black families and the power of community--featuring stunning illustrations from Caldecott Honoree Noa Denmon.

Black child
you were birthed from a
dark
jeweled expanse
infinite and vast
but holy as the womb

Never forget it was HOPE that birthed you ...

From birth to beyond, from slavery to freedom, and from generation to generation, this powerful and evocative book shows the breadth and depth of Black history--from the creative duo behind A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart, which won a Caldecott Honor.