Delicious food, the best Zydeco bands, and a fabulous atmosphere with fun for the entire family.

• Boots and Boogie Dance featuring DJ YOUNG STREETZ---21+
• No outside food or drinks.
• No Yeti Cups or Coolers.
• Free parking at TSU
• 13 and under free festival entry.
• Kiddieland requires paid entry.
• All festival purchases require Bazaar bucks.
• Don't forget to check out the vendors.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/st-marys-annual-gumbo-festival-tickets-2000664652833

Delicious food, the best Zydeco bands, and a fabulous atmosphere with fun for the entire family.

• Boots and Boogie Dance featuring DJ YOUNG STREETZ---21+
• No outside food or drinks.
• No Yeti Cups or Coolers.
• Free parking at TSU
• 13 and under free festival entry.
• Kiddieland requires paid entry.
• All festival purchases require Bazaar bucks.
• Don't forget to check out the vendors.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/st-marys-annual-gumbo-festival-tickets-2000664652833

Delicious food, the best Zydeco bands, and a fabulous atmosphere with fun for the entire family.

• Boots and Boogie Dance featuring DJ YOUNG STREETZ---21+
• No outside food or drinks.
• No Yeti Cups or Coolers.
• Free parking at TSU
• 13 and under free festival entry.
• Kiddieland requires paid entry.
• All festival purchases require Bazaar bucks.
• Don't forget to check out the vendors.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/st-marys-annual-gumbo-festival-tickets-2000664652833

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, October 25 @ 3 PM

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

How: RSVP to let us know you're coming! 

ABOUT WOMEN AT POINT ZERO

Internationally acclaimed Egyptian feminist writer Nawal El Saadawi’s landmark novel Woman at Point Zero, published here with a new foreword.

Firdaus is on death row. Her crime, the murder of a man. Born into poverty in a rural Egyptian village, her childhood dreams and ambitions had been met with neglect and abuse by the world and the men who rule it. Driven to sex work to support herself, she is faced with the moral outrage of society and the bitter knowledge that for a woman, true freedom comes only when all hope is abandoned. In Woman at Point Zero, Firdaus tells her unforgettable story.

https://kindredstorieshtx.com/collections/book-clubs/products/october-2026-no-name-book-club-october-25-3-pm-cst

Join two-time Newbery Medalist author Kate DiCamillo and two-time Caldecott Medalist illustrator Sophie

Blackall, as they share their newest book in The

Norendy Tales Series, Lost Evangeline.

https://9lpgesbab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001HrwpxgOeM-nsQ9WuV5FU5Nd2pL6a6v1ia4jT2bZnH0YOIeJiHclHqLv-Ou49pIKsgHfC6WgaZIhreWVu4pZLmNe_V0nro1Whmp6XLv8U5b7PmfhAtkhpujUODQog355tkSbo8Z0KC2S4lr6bRPVB2QALdYXvrtsh_gRDtggGb5xktfDYhk562Bu6RsRgdZK0Fp3n3MQ5KAcyzA-c4UF35U86enHEyhGItLyWjTpLzhMSeXKwll2ebpHj8-L0gJo5&c=YwXImzc28S-ZuqQ1rTa9Yxz68rzDzrchs9EWpbN1j1Fp8GFtyy4fEA==&ch=0XqNYL5_A19b6BEdya8JkoBnKq2GEOosLH1S-pfADZxx9ndXkxsgrQ==

The acclaimed violinist and pianist team up for a recital featuring music of Sibelius, Britten, Piazzolla and Schnittke, and a new work by Michi Wiancko.

https://www.dacamera.com/chamber-music/alexi-kenney-violin-janice-carissa-piano/

UH African American Studies Department presents “Coogs in the Community,” with special guest Dr. Herman Beavers, President, Modern Language Association, Professor, English and Africana Studies, the University of Pennsylvania.

Susan and Fayez Sarofim Hall, Pitman Cinema Theatre

“The Impossible Will Be Televised: How Rice is Changing What It Means to Be Human”

An exclusive look at “ARCHIVE X,” the new documentary on AMC+, SundanceTV and All Reality

Featuring Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Professor in Philosophy and Religious Thought and host of Rice’s Center for the Impossible, in conversation with Timothy Morton, Rita Shea Guffey Professor of English

In an era dominated by rapid technological shifts and cultural re-evaluations, how do we make sense of experiences that defy standard humanistic, scientific and materialist frameworks? The School of Humanities and Arts invites you to a screening and an intimate stage dialogue exploring how anomalous human experiences, media and consciousness are redefining our understanding of reality and what it means to be human.

Hosted by Nicole Waligora-Davis, School of Humanities and Arts associate dean, Humanities NOW conversations are open to the Rice community and the public. They provide a sense of the wide variety of work scholars in the humanities and arts are engaged in and how this connects to some of today’s most pressing questions.

https://riceconnect.rice.edu/events/2026/humanities-now

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

An unsettling exploration of the persistence of racism in reproductive healthcare in the US—and why even affluent Black women are imperiled by substandard care.

From a leading expert on race, class, maternal health, and reproductive rights.

Racism in maternal healthcare is not reserved for the poor. An unsparing picture of inequities in prenatal care and childbirth in the United States, Expecting Inequity reveals that not only are black people three to four times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause, but racial disparities in maternal mortality persist across income levels. That is, wealthier black people are much more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth, or the postpartum period than their white counterparts. Focusing on a San Francisco obstetrics clinic that caters to the affluent, Khiara Bridges looks at the choices around prenatal care and childbirth that class-privileged, pregnant black people are making in order to survive what has been called the “black maternal health crisis.”

Bridges, whose previous work exposed how race and racism are embedded in maternal healthcare for the poor, draws on two years of participant-observation to show how wealthier black people try to leverage their class privilege to avoid some of the negative effects of their blackness—only to discover that in a country that has never reckoned with its horrific racial past, there is no escaping racism’s reach. Throughout the book, engaging, heartbreaking, infuriating stories of women’s experiences with pregnancy and prenatal care illustrate how race and racism matter regardless of wealth or status.

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.

https://kindredstorieshtx.com/products/author-talk-expecting-inequity-with-khiara-m-bridges-october-29-7-pm

Welcome to Boo House!

Come and join us at 2510 Division St. Houston, TX 77004 on October 30, 2026 at 6:00 PM for a spooktacular night filled with scares and thrills!

Get ready for a hair-raising experience as you explore the eerie halls of Boo House. Don't forget to wear your scariest costume to compete in our costume contest!

Free parking is available in the open lot across from Trinity Church, on site of Project Row Houses, and on Holman Street.

Beware to be scared!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/boo-house-in-the-backyard-tickets-1999421768332?aff=cal

Get ready to ride, glow & flow! Join Let’s Do This Houston x With Love, Yoga for a Halloween Eve experience combining a fun community bike ride with a relaxing yoga flow. ✨

https://www.letsdothishouston.com/events/boo-balance-halloween-eve-glow-ride-yoga-flow

https://www.ticketmaster.com/pj-morton-saturday-night-sunday-morning-houston-texas-10-30-2026/event/3A006490A496972C

Celebrate the opening of this exhibition, which features works by a Houston-based initiative The Call Me Mother Experience featuring new art from Deborah D.E.E.P Mouton, Vogue Robinson, Andonnia of Annlettered and the Houston debut of Omari Maynard's nationally-recognized series, In Her Honor.

The Call Me Mother Experience (CMME) is an art and awareness initiative that tells the stories behind the Black maternal health crisis. Black women in Harris County face the nation’s highest pregnancy-related death rate and are nearly four times more likely to die than white women. CMME brings together artists to amplify these stories, educate audiences, and champion self-advocacy through art.

Sparked by a poem written by Founder, Curator, and Lead Artist Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton during her miscarriage, this exhibit features new art from artists connected to the issue and collects local stories through pop-up art activations with community members. CMME combines video interviews, short films, visual art, and community-made pieces to create an immersive art installation shared through museums, service organizations, and faith-centered spaces.

Be the first to see these exciting works as you enjoy drinks and light bites.

This exhibition is organized by the Houston Community Land Trust in collaboration with Project Row Houses and the Third Ward Cultural District. Interested in participating in future exhibitions? Complete this form: https://forms.office.com/r/h0JdCdQL3p.

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/houston-community-land-trust-quarterly-exhibition-reception-tickets-2003045042643?aff=cal

Join IN-PERSON on Thursday November 5th on the back patio of Brasil Houston!
WHAT: Short Films + Filmmaker Mixer
WHEN: Thursday, November 5th, 8:00PM-10PM
WHERE: Brasil Houston (2604 Dunlavy, 77006) on back patio
HOW: Street parking, south side of Westheimer (don't park less than 30ft. in front of a stop sign!)
COST: $FREE to attend (18yo+)
----------------------------------------
The "first Thursdays" short film evening is always a great networking opportunity or simply a chance to get together with or meet new Houston filmmakers and creative people. This $FREE evening is not to be missed because you won't get to experience films like this anywhere else. Please arrive early, screening begins promptly at 8:00PMish

ABOUT THE BOOK

Welcome to so-tiny-you'll-blink-and-miss-it town of Elaine for Christmas.

SUNDAY

Just days before Christmas, Sunday Conklin is on the brink of losing everything-her family's scenic farm-in the heart of her small Arkansas town. It's the legacy she's given up her life to protect. With the bank out of mercy and her options gone, her family's oldest enemy, the Adlers, will finally take the Conklin Fields for themselves. But a miracle arrives-one that could save Sunday, her neighbors, and the historic town of Elaine itself. There's just one problem: that miracle comes tangled up with the most infuriating man she's ever met... who belongs right back in Texas where he came from.

SEVEN

Seven Hardcastle can't believe his luck this Christmas, when he's assigned to a middle-of-nowhere Arkansas town. He's ready to return to his perfectly manicured life in Dallas with his wife and kids. All he needs is one signature-Sunday Conklin's. But when the town of Elaine strikes it big, Seven's fate is tied up with that of its most stubborn, maddening, and undeniably magnetic farm-owner. As the town's secrets unravel, and Sunday's fight becomes his own, Seven is handed a Christmas gift he never expected... one that forces him to question his past, his future, and where home truly is.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lula White is the pen name for Shannon Humphrey. She grew up on Confederate Boulevard not far from Sweet Home, Arkansas, fishing with her grandfather, baking with her grandmother, and riding her bicycle to Granite Mountain in her bare feet.

Lula is the original creator of the fictional Black Hamptons with her first romance series, Sag Harbor Black Romances, using her fiction to open conversations on generational wealth and high society that were previously limited to history and sociology texts. In her follow-up, Explore Men of the Hamptons, Lula continued using her creativity to expand our collective self-perception. 

She has continued telling the truth in ways that reexamine our potential in The Young and Luxurious, Who’s Lovin’ You and now, The Gift of Us.

Her hunger for life and travel took her from college to Capitol Hill, law school, and now Los Angeles where she is a civil rights litigator and author of over thirty novels. Having traveled the turbulent road of success herself, she is uniquely positioned to fight for indigent families and create worlds where we can have our dreams. 

When she dons her lawyer cape, Shannon is the 40th President of Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Inc., a former Deputy District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles, and a former appellate lawyer whose advocacy secured the reversal of several trial courts at the California Court of Appeals.

She was named one of the Top Forty Attorneys Under Forty for the National Bar Association, and is a graduate of the Los Angeles African American Women’s Public Policy Institute. 

A 2018 writer-in-residence at the prestigious Hedgebrook for women writers in Seattle, whether she writes as Lula or Shannon, or the genre be romance, historical fiction, or science fiction fantasy, she weaves every plot to entertain, inspire, and illuminate our highest selves.  

Her stories are for every soul ready to claim their heaven on Earth now. We don’t need permission.

ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER

Alexandrea LeChelle is a contemporary romance author whose stories explore love, grief, healing, and the complicated beauty of human connection.

Her novels unfold between Houston and Louisiana and center Black characters navigating family legacies, emotional vulnerability, and the quiet courage it takes to love deeply and unapologetically.

Through rich, emotional storytelling and cinematic detail, Alexandrea writes the kind of love stories she rarely saw growing up and entering adulthood. Stories where Black characters are allowed to be flawed, passionate, and deeply human.

What began as a way to process emotions and channel creativity through her own healing journey, slowly evolved into something much bigger: an urge to create and share stories about love, healing, and the complicated paths of life that bring people together.

Her stories often explore themes such as emotional healing, family dynamics, grief and growth, healthy Black love, the courage to begin again. Every story is planted in the belief that love, in all its forms, has the power to change us for the better.

When she’s not reading, Alexandrea can be found working her way through her own TBR, journaling or planning new creative projects, adding recipes to her personal cookbook, and listening to playlists that eventually inspire new stories.

At the heart of everything she creates is a simple hope: That readers will find pieces of themselves in her stories.

https://kindredstorieshtx.com/products/author-talk-the-gift-of-us-with-lula-white-november-6-7-pm

Lois Chiles Studio Theater | Free + Open to the Public | Registration Appreciated

Experience the third installment of a film trilogy by artist Dario Robleto that explores the history and legacy of the Golden Record. Launched in 1977, the record is attached to NASA’s Voyager I and II space probes and contains images, languages, music, and sounds representing the diversity of life and cultures on Earth. This screening is co-organized with Rice University's Space Humanities Initiative and coincides with the Moody's Tent Series, which includes artwork from the artist drawn from this film. 

Following the screening, Jennifer L. Roberts, Drew Gilpin Faust Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, and Alexander Regier, William Faulkner Professor of English at Rice University, will lead a Q&A with the artist.

https://www.ticketmaster.com/thundercat-distracted-af-tour-houston-texas-11-07-2026/event/3A0064E9ECC030D7

The Artist’s Eye invites Houston artists to engage in informal conversations about works from the collection. In this program, Li(sa E.) Harris, an interdisciplinary artist, musician, and researcher, speaks about a selected artwork in relation to her own practice, materials, and conceptual concerns.
Attend

This program takes place in the main building, located at 1533 Sul Ross Street.

As always, Menil programs are free and open to all.

Li(sa E.) Harris uses voice, theremin, electronics, movement, improvisation, meditation, and new media to explore healing in performance and living. The founder/creative director of the multidisciplinary creative arts studio Studio Enertia, Li is the recipient of numerous awards that include a 2022 Guggenheim Fellowship in Fine Arts and the 2021 Dorothea Tanning Award in Music/Sound from the Foundation for Contemporary Art. Recent solo exhibitions include Unlit: Sof Landin (Ballroom Marfa, 2023), D.R.E.A.M.= A Way to Afram (Diverse Works, 2023), and This is the Day (Lawndale Art Center, 2024).

https://www.menil.org/events/the-artist-s-eye-li-sa-e-harris

The Houston debut of one of the world’s most acclaimed virtuosos in an all-Beethoven program full of passion and keyboard wizardry.

https://www.dacamera.com/chamber-music/igor-levit-piano-all-beethoven/

https://www.ticketmaster.com/10-years-of-6lack-tour-houston-texas-11-11-2026/event/3A0064B6B6D8D470

Moody Center for the Arts | Free + Open to the Public | $6 Parking | Registration Appreciated

Don't miss our signature program catalyzing dialogue between artists and researchers. Eamon Ore-Giron, featured in Radiant Geometries and the Rice Public Art Collection, will be in discussion with Lori Boornazian Diel, L.H. Favrot Professor of Humanities in the Department of Art History at Rice University, and Steven Gullberg, Professor of Cultural Astronomy at the University of Oklahoma.

Ore-Giron's visual language draws, in part, from pre-Colombian/Andean traditions of sky-watching. Diel and Gullberg will expand that exploration through the lens of art history and astronomy, evoking questions of how humans encode celestial observations and the passage of time. 

Colson Whitehead will read from his new novel Cool Machine, followed by an on-stage conversation with Houston Chronicle news columnist Joy Sewing. The evening will conclude with a book sale and signing. The event is presented as part of the 2026/2027 Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series.

General admission tickets for $30 will include a copy of Colson Whitehead’s Cool Machine. 


Program

• Reading by Colson Whitehead from his new novel Cool Machine
• Conversation with Houston Chronicle news columnist Joy Sewing
• Book sale and signing
• Additional books available via Kindred Stories

Tickets & More Info Here

Aptly described as a “beat scientist,” drummer, composer, and producer Makaya McCraven is a maverick musician defining what jazz means now.

https://www.dacamera.com/jazz/makaya-mccraven/

The complete film on the big screen, its Academy Award®- and GRAMMY®-winning score performed live beneath it by the Orquesta Folclórica Nacional de México, conducted by Esin Aydingoz.

That means “Remember Me”—the Academy Award®-winning song by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez—and the film's original songs by Germaine Franco and co-director Adrian Molina, played in the room, in real time, by a Mexican folk orchestra.

Runs 2 hours 15 minutes, including one intermission.

Saturday 3 PM — presented in Spanish, with English subtitles.

Saturday 7:30 PM & Sunday 1 PM — presented in English, with Spanish subtitles.

About the Film

Despite his family's baffling, generations-old ban on music, Miguel (voice of Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (voice of Benjamin Bratt).

Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets the charming trickster Héctor (voice of Gael García Bernal), and together they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.

https://performingartshouston.org/events/disney-pixars-coco-in-concert-2026-11-14-300-pm/

The complete film on the big screen, its Academy Award®- and GRAMMY®-winning score performed live beneath it by the Orquesta Folclórica Nacional de México, conducted by Esin Aydingoz.

That means “Remember Me”—the Academy Award®-winning song by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez—and the film's original songs by Germaine Franco and co-director Adrian Molina, played in the room, in real time, by a Mexican folk orchestra.

Runs 2 hours 15 minutes, including one intermission.

Saturday 3 PM — presented in Spanish, with English subtitles.

Saturday 7:30 PM & Sunday 1 PM — presented in English, with Spanish subtitles.

About the Film

Despite his family's baffling, generations-old ban on music, Miguel (voice of Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (voice of Benjamin Bratt).

Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets the charming trickster Héctor (voice of Gael García Bernal), and together they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.

https://performingartshouston.org/events/disney-pixars-coco-in-concert-2026-11-14-300-pm/

The complete film on the big screen, its Academy Award®- and GRAMMY®-winning score performed live beneath it by the Orquesta Folclórica Nacional de México, conducted by Esin Aydingoz.

That means “Remember Me”—the Academy Award®-winning song by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez—and the film's original songs by Germaine Franco and co-director Adrian Molina, played in the room, in real time, by a Mexican folk orchestra.

Runs 2 hours 15 minutes, including one intermission.

Saturday 3 PM — presented in Spanish, with English subtitles.

Saturday 7:30 PM & Sunday 1 PM — presented in English, with Spanish subtitles.

About the Film

Despite his family's baffling, generations-old ban on music, Miguel (voice of Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (voice of Benjamin Bratt).

Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets the charming trickster Héctor (voice of Gael García Bernal), and together they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.

https://performingartshouston.org/events/disney-pixars-coco-in-concert-2026-11-14-300-pm/

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

Registration and More Info Here

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.

We're meeting to discuss When We Are Kin: The History and Future of Afro-Indigenous Solidarity by Kyle T. Mays!

BOOK CLUB MEETING DEETS

When: Tuesday, November 17 @ 7PM CST

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

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

ABOUT WHEN WE ARE KIN

A bold vision for a Black and Indigenous future rooted in real solidarity, a future that exists beyond the confines of the liberal imagination

Current advocates of reparations for slavery and land back often fail to scrutinize racial capitalism and settler colonialism, instead accepting that their destinies will forever be tied to US empire. But as scholar Kyle T. Mays insists in When We Are Kin, we can and should demand a kind of repair that goes beyond a white supremacist idea of what justice can be. 

In a series of short essays, Mays traces the history of alliances between Black and Indigenous movements; outlines the limitations of certain demands for reparations, including cash payments, that do not fundamentally critique racial-settler capitalism; and interrogates contemporary land back initiatives that fail to fully address decolonization. Along the way, he asks, What does solidarity look like between Black and Indigenous peoples in the United States? Can we find ways to co-belong and co-resist on Turtle Island?

Drawing on the Anishinaabe philosophy of mino-bimaadiziwin (the good life), Mays argues that we can resist as kin only when we center the land in building our collective futures. 

https://kindredstorieshtx.com/collections/book-clubs/products/november-2026-kindreds-pick-book-club-november-17-7pm

An evening of stories and discussion, moderated by Houston Public Media's Ernie Manouse

At nineteen, still a USC student, LeVar Burton landed Kunta Kinte in Roots and the cover of TIME. A decade later he was Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation. And for twenty-six years he hosted Reading Rainbow—the role he calls his proudest, and the one that made him the face of reading for a generation.

Fourteen Emmys, a Grammy, a Peabody, six NAACP Awards—and a new memoir, Take my Word for It, out this fall, which brings him to Houston with the stories behind all of it. He remains a working advocate for literacy and a vocal opponent of book banning.

https://performingartshouston.org/events/an-evening-with-levar-burton-2026-11-17-730-pm/

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

Registration and More Info Here

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

The forbidden royal romance of Red, White & Royal Blue meets the dragon-riding adventure of Fourth Wing, in The Drakon King by Terry J. Benton-Walker.

Two princes, born to rival kingdoms.

Heir to a kingdom built on lies, Prince Reverie has one goal: avoid the crown. So when Reverie sees an opportunity to escape a life of pain and cruelty, he takes it and runs.

Heir to a kingdom banished into the sky, Prince Xandreth has one goal: find out why his people are going missing, abandoning his kingdom to find the truth, no matter the cost.

A meeting that was never meant to be.

On the run, pursued by both kingdoms and wild creatures, the princes meet. Xandreth can't trust a party boy to help find the answers he seeks and Reverie has been taught to hate and fear Xandreth’s people since he was born, but the only way forward is for Reverie to break his vow to never return home. And for both of them to trust the other with their lives.

A love that could change the world.

But as truths come to light, a myth as old as the world comes to light, as well. A bird on fire and a world turning to ash.

Reverie and Xandreth are suddenly at the heart of a crisis—and a love—neither can afford to ignore.

Together they must claim the power they left behind and change their world.

Or watch it burn.

We're meeting to discuss The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman: A Novel by 
Deesha Philyaw!

BOOK CLUB MEETING DEETS

When: Thursday, November 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 Fiction Book Club by purchasing a copy of the book from Kindred Stories here!

ABOUT THE TRUE CONFESSIONS OF FIRST LADY FREEMAN

A Most Anticipated Book of 2026 by PEN America, Lit Hub, BookPage, and Ms. Magazine

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 packed with surprising turns, The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman exults in the luscious, messy pleasure of finally feeling free.

"Deesha Philyaw has already established herself as one of the greatest short story writers, but in The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman she cements herself as the most soulfully entertaining writer of her era." - Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy and Long Division

https://kindredstorieshtx.com/collections/book-clubs/products/november-2026-fiction-book-club-november-26-7pm

Join us for a monthly children’s storytime at Kindred Stories! Each storytime will celebrate a special book, read by a wonderful member of our community, and include a fun activity.

Featured Book: Lyric's Favorite Season

Featured Reader: Dr. Symone McCollum 

EVENT DEETS

When: Saturday, November 21 @ 11 AM CST 

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

How: 

• RSVP to reserve your spot and let us know you are coming.

ABOUT Lyric's Favorite Season!

A little girl sings the praises of all four seasons in a playful picture book that celebrates the joys to be found throughout the year.

Lyric loves every single season. Spring makes her so happy! Birds singing, plants sprouting, double-Dutching in the park. But hold on—what’s that peeking around the corner? It’s summer! Beach trips, family cookouts, playing cards, and jamming to hip-hop and merengue. Summer really is the best. Except . . . did someone say fall? Hooray for brilliant colors, leaves swirling, and making sweet potato pie. And then, of course, there’s winter, which brings the magic of snowflakes, the coziness of cocoa and fireplaces, and the joy of holidays.

It’s easy to see why Lyric can’t choose just one favorite season— there’s so much to love about them all!

https://kindredstorieshtx.com/collections/book-clubs/products/little-stories-club-storytime-at-kindred-november-21-11-am

Zine Fest Houston is an event dedicated to promoting zines, mini-comics, and other forms of small press, alternative, underground, DIY media and art.

It is also a grassroots attempt to build the local zine, DIY, and alternative media scenes and form networks with media creators in other areas. The goal of the event is for attendees to discover new zines and be inspired to create their own DIY art and media projects.

https://www.zinefesthouston.org/

Moody Center for the Arts | Free + Open to the Public | Followed by a Reception | More Info Here

Hear original scores inspired by works featured in Radiant Geometries. Composed and performed live in the galleries by students from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, this series celebrates musical ingenuity and innovation, offering new perspectives on the exhibition. Guests are invited to join the students after the concert for a reception. 

https://www.prekindle.com/promo/id/-2852852648489934677

Tank and The Bangas, The Last Balloon Tour
with special guest Ariel J. and Zeus

For Tank and the Bangas, music is a vessel for unbridled joy and transcendent connection—forces as integral to their essence as their wildly original sound. On their new album The Last Balloon, the New Orleans-bred outfit channel those impulses into something celebratory yet profoundly human, exploring themes of frustration, resilience, and self-realization with equal parts raw emotionality and playful exuberance. A shapeshifting collective helmed by lead singer Tarriona “Tank” Ball and multi-instrumentalist Norman Spence II, the globally beloved group completed the LP after winning a GRAMMY for 2024’s spoken-word powerhouse The Heart, The Mind, The Soul, moving from incendiary poetry to a euphoric collision of soul and hip-hop and forward-thinking R&B. As the final installment in a trilogy of albums that began with 2019’s Green Balloon (a critical triumph that earned them a GRAMMY nomination for Best New Artist), The Last Balloon ultimately solidifies Tank and the Bangas’ legacy as one of modern music’s most steadfast voices of sublime exhilaration.