Books and Boba

On this episode, we discuss our Books and Boba February 2019 book club pick, The Grace of Kings , by Ken Liu, an epic tale of rebellion and heroes set in an Asian inspired "silkpunk" world. We chat about the sweeping story, the detailed world building, the many many characters, the actual historical events the story is based on. For additional thoughts and discussion on the monthly pick,...

It's time for another Books & Boba news roundup. On this episode, we check in with the latest publishing announcements and news out of the world of Asian American literature. For additional thoughts and discussion on the monthly pick, visit the Books & Boba Goodreads group . Our February 2019 Book Club pick is Grace of Kings by Ken Liu Follow the hosts: Reera Yoo ( @reeraboo ) Marvin Yueh...

On this episode, we discuss our Books and Boba January 2019 book club pick, Rainbirds , by Clarissa Goenawan, a story about a man trying to making sense of his sister's sudden violent death in a small Japanese town set in the early-nineties. For additional thoughts and discussion on the monthly pick, visit the Books & Boba Goodreads forums . This Month's Book Club Panelists: Reera Yoo ( @reera...

On this episode, we check in to chat about the recent book news, including the success of books becoming TV series like Marie Kondo's new Netflix series. We also go over recent publishing announcements and chat about some of our most anticipated books of 2019. For additional thoughts and discussion on the monthly pick, visit the Books & Boba Goodreads group . Our January 2019 Book Club pick is...

On our last podcast of the year, we catch up on the latest book news before diving into our discussion of the Books and Boba December 2018 book club pick, Young Jane Young , by Gabrielle Zevin, a story told from the perspectives of 5 women and the sexist scandal that connects their lives. It's a story about the way we treat people who get caught up in sex scandals, and the double standard of who s...

On this episode, we discuss the Books and Boba November 2018 book club pick, IQ , by Joe Ide, a detective crime story featuring Isaiah Quintabe (aka IQ), a genius detective solving mysteries around South Central Los Angeles. The story covers the origin of IQ as well as his latest case protecting his client from an assassin whose weapon of choice is a giant dog (a hound one might say). Can IQ solve...

On this episode, we discuss the Books and Boba October 2018 (also Filipino American History Month) book club pick, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen , by Jose Antonio Vargas, a memoir of Vargas' life as an undocumented American, from his childhood discovery of his status, to becoming an award winning journalist, to his current life as a high profile advocate for immigrant rights. To h...

On this episode, we check in to chat about the recent book news including Asian American publishing announcements, award nominations, and end-of-year lists. Don't forget to check back next week for the discussion episode of Books & Boba October 2018 pick, Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas. For additional thoughts and discussion on the monthly pick, visit the...

On this episode, Reera chats with author Renee Macalino Rutledge, author of the award winning novel, The Hour of Daydreams , a modern take on a classic folktale taking place in the Philippines. Renee shares with us about her experiences writing her first fictional novel as well as the inspirations behind her story. For additional thoughts and discussion visit the Books & Boba Goodreads forums...

On this episode, we discuss the Books and Boba September book club pick, Number One Chinese Restaurant , by Lillian Li, a family drama surrounding the proprietors and staff of a semi-famous chinese restaurant in the Maryland suburbs outside of Washington DC. Marvin believes it to be a great follow up to our August book club pick and Reera has a lot of thoughts on the many plot lines that revolve a...

On this episode of Books & Boba, Reera gathers some friends to chat about the Netflix adaptation of Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before . They chat about the differences between the book and the film, including their favorite parts of both and the parts that they wish made it to the adaptation. For additional thoughts and discussion visit the Books & Boba Goodreads forums This Ep...

It's time to talk about the Books and Boba August book club pick, Crazy Rich Asians , the bestselling novel by Kevin Kwan that is now the hit movie of the summer! Reera and Marvin talk about their thoughts on the many many characters in the book, the quality of the love story, how the book stacks up against the movie, and a few of critiques as well. Also, updates on the latest publishing news from...

Reera chats with author Vanessa Hua, the author of A River of Stars , a novel about young mothers seeking the American Dream, and the untold story of secret Chinese maternity homes. Vanessa talks about the inspirations behind her debut novel and balancing narratives between different Chinese narratives and perspectives. For additional thoughts and discussion visit the Books & Boba Goodreads fo...

CW: Discussion of Rape On this episode, we bring you another author interview with Winnie M Li, the author of ***Dark Chapter *** , a novel based loosely on the author's real life rape in Ireland. We talk to Winnie about her what it's like writing a story so close to her real life traumas and her decision to imagine the events from the perspective of her attacker. For additional thoughts and discu...

CW: Discussion about Suicide & Bullying On this episode, we discuss our July 2017 Book Club Pick A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, and we have a lot to go over. This was a very ambitious book with high concept themes related to zen philosophy and quantum mechanics, as well as heavy emotional themes related to (mentioned above) suicide, bullying, and their place in Japanese society. In a...

Hey! It's a bonus episode of Books & Boba, featuring an interview that Marvin conducted at last week's San Diego Comic-Con with some of our favorite Asian American authors, CB Lee ( Not Your Sidekick ), Sarah Kuhn ( Heroine Complex ), and RF Kuang ( The Poppy War ). We talk about what it's like to be an author at SDCC, the joys of writing own-voices Asian characters, and how awesome the Asian...

We check in to chat about the recent book news including Asian American publishing announcements and recent controversies in the book world. Reera shares her thoughts on the value of Libraries and why piracy is bad, and we also respond to some listener feedback from our goodreads forums (keem'em coming)! Don't forget, the Books & Boba May 2018 pick is A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki Fo...

On this episode, we chat with Dami Lee, the author and cartoonist who is about to release her first graphic novel ***Be Everything at Once: Tales of a Cartoonist Lady Person *** , a collection of cartoons from her popular series of webtoons, as well as new original cartoons that memorialize Dami's journey as a 3x immigrant to the states. We chat with Dami about how she started drawing, the rigors...

On this episode we chat with C.B. Lee, the author of the Books and Boba June 2018 pick Not Your Sidekick . C.B. shares about switching careers from academia to writing fiction, and how she created a world centered on a group of queer superheroes who also happen to be people of color. We also talk about our favorite scenes from the first book, gush about the Asian American literature community, and...

On this episode, we discuss the Books & Boba Book Club pick for June2018, Not Your Sidekick by CB Lee, a post-dystopia superhero story about a girl from a family of superheroes with no "superpowers." We discuss how even in a superpowered future, it's hard to live up to the expectations on your immigrant superhero parents, and how refreshing it is to read a story centered on a queer P...

It's the middle of June and we have your latest book news in our mid month check in. Also our new website has LAUNCHED so please check it out at booksandboba.com ! Don't forget, the Books & Boba May 2018 pick is Not Your Sidekick by CB Lee For additional thoughts and discussion on the monthly pick, visit the Books & Boba Goodreads group . Follow the hosts: Reera Yoo ( @reeraboo ) Marvin Yu...

On this episode, we discuss the Books & Boba Book Club pick for May 2018, The Leavers by Lisa Ko, a story of a Chinese-American boy dealing with his adoption by well-meaning white parents after his mother's deportation. We discuss the parallels between the dual narratives as well as what the title "The Leavers" really means. To help us with the adoptee perspective, we invite book clu...

Hope everyone's having a great Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! We're back for a mid-month news check in, going over the recent new releases and publishing news in Asian American literature, as well as some analysis on recent happenings in Asian American literature twitter. Don't forget, the Books & Boba May 2018 pick is The Leavers by Lisa Ko. For additional thoughts and discussion on t...

It's time to discuss the Books & Boba Book Club pick for April 2018, One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter by Scaachi Koul, a collection of personal essays about the author's life from childhood to adulthood and the struggles she faced as a second generation immigrant in Canada. Her stories range from seven-day Indian weddings, disastrous shopping trips, to dealing with intern...

Books and Boba returns with a quick update on the latest book news and new releases from Asian American literature! This week is another double header so stay tuned to the podcast feed for the discussion episode of the April book club pick, "One Day We'll Be Dead and None of This Will Matter" by Scaachi Koul Also! The Books & Boba May 2018 pick is The Leavers by Lisa Ko. For addition...