Books and Boba

On our second to last mid-month book news episode in 2025, we highlight some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, and catch up on the latest book news for November 2025! Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news: Overrated by Gene Luen Yang & Jacob Perez Ink & Blood: Poetry and Power in the Lives of Emperor Li Yu and Chairman Mao by Chun Yu; illust. Sungyoon Choi Th...

Join us as we discuss our October 2025 book club pick, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng  by Kylie Lee Baker, a Chinese American horror story taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic following Cora Zeng, a crime scene cleaner haunted by the trauma of witnessing her sister's murder in a NYC subway station, as well as what appears to be her sister's actual hungry ghost. We follow Cora an...

On this episode, we sit down with author Yume Kitasei to chat about her latest novel,  Saltcrop , a science fiction story about three sisters who grew up in a near future Earth after an ecological collapse changed the world. When the eldest sister goes missing while working for a megacorporation (because capitalism persists even after the end of the world), the younger two set off on a danger...

For our mid-month book news check in for October 2025, we're catching up on the Asian American publishing news for the past 2 months (since we didn't do a mid-month episode in September) as well as checking in on the news about the latest National Book Award nominations as well as some exciting new listings on the NYT bestsellers list! Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news: The Radiance...

On this episode, we are joined by Jade Chang, the author of our August 2025 book club pick The Wangs Vs the World , to chat about her newest novel,  What a Time to be Alive , which follows a messy Chinese American girl named Lola Treasure Gold who inadvertently finds internet fame when a tongue in cheek speech she makes at a party honoring her recently deceased best friend goes viral, turning...

On this episode, we discuss our September 2025 book club pick, A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping  by Sangu Mandanna, a cozy magical story about Sera, who used to be the most powerful witch in the UK until losing all her power casting a forbidden spell to bring her beloved great aunt back from the dead. Now 15 years later, she runs a magical inn in the English countryside after being expel...

On this episode, we are joined by best selling author Dustin Thao to chat about his newest novel, You've Found Oliver , the follow up to his bittersweet debut You've Reached Sam. Dustin shares with us how a real life glitch in the matrix inspired the supernatural setting of his latest romance as well as his thoughts on time, grief, and magic. Follow Dustin on Instagram at  @thedustinthao and...

On this episode, we are joined from all the way on the other side of the world by Emma Pei Yin to chat about her debut novel  When Sleeping Women Wake , a historical fiction novel about three women who each find their individual paths to resistance during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during world war 2. Emma shares with how she was inspired to write the story after hearing about her g...

On this episode, we chat with author Amran Gowani about his debut novel  Leverage , a financial thriller about a rising star hedge fund analyst who is forced to dive into the seedy underbelly of the financial system when he loses his firm $300 million in a day and has to make everything back in 3 months or face some dire consequences. Amran chats with us about the themes of his novel as well...

On this episode we discuss our August 2025 book club pick The Wangs Vs. The World  by Jade Chang, about the (formerly) affluent Wang family who embark on a road trip from from LA to NY after losing everything during the 2008 financial crisis. This is a book that is almost as old as our podcast and has been on our TBR for a long time so we're excited to dive in! TW: One of the storylines...

On this episode, we sit down with author Benedict Nguyễn to chat about her debut novel  Hot Girls with Balls , a romantic sports satire about two Asian American trans athletes at the top of their game as stars of the international men’s pro indoor volleyball league (who also happen to be girlfriends)! Follow Benedict on Instagram at  @xbennyboo and check out her debut novel  Hot Gir...

Reera is off on family business so it's a solo Marvin mid-month check in this week. On this short but sweet episode, Marvin highlights some of the latest publishing announcements for books by Asian and Asian American authors so that you can have even more books to keep an eye on for your TBR lists! Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news: SLASHER SUMMER By E.L. Chen AMBROSIA By Katrina Kwa...

On this episode, we chat with Julia and Brad Riew, the sibling writing duo behind the new Asian-inspired fantasy novel The Last Tiger ! Julia and Brad share their experiences writing a novel as a team as well as how they were inspired to write their fantasy epic, which takes place in a world inspired by Japanese-occupied Korea in the 1940's, by the real life star-crossed love story of their grandp...

On this episode, we discuss our July 2025 pick is  Bingsu for Two  by Sujin Witherspoon, a coffee house romantic comedy set in Seattle about high school senior River, who is reeling from the consequences of a series of disastrous personal decisions and seeks refuge at a small Korean cafe where he finds a found family and maybe even an enemies-to-lovers romance with the goth Korean girl o...

Note: This is a re-upload of episode 321 since we had the wrong audio file uploaded last week, apologies for any confusion! On our mid-month check in for July 2025, we highlight some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, and catch up on the latest book news! Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news: Break Room by Miye Lee; translated by Sandy Jooson Lee Gods & Comics by...

On this episode, we sit down with author Allison King to chat about her debut novel The Phoenix Pencil Company , a novel that's part historical fiction, part magical realism, and part sapphic romance about a young woman who discovers her family's secret magical power to reconstruct anything written by a pencil while taking care of her ailing grandmother and learning about her own family's history...

On this episode, we're joined by author Naomi Xu Elegant to chat about her debut novel Gingko Season , a story about a young Chinese American woman finding love, identity, purpose, and political awakening alongside her friends, set in New York City in 2018. Books & Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authors Support the Books & Boba Podcas...

On this episode, we discuss our June 2025 book club pick is  Afterparties by the late Anthony Veasna So, a short story collection about a community of Cambodian Americans in San Joaquin County. Join us as we discuss all nine short stories that take us through a myriad of emotions with Anthony's often melancholic, sometimes hopeful, and darkly funny storytelling. Books & Boba is a pod...

On this episode, we welcome award winning author and illustrator Mike Curato to the podcast to chat about his latest graphic novel,  Gaysians , an adult graphic novel following four gay Asians navigating love, identity, found family, and friendship in early 2000's Seattle. Follow Mike on Instagram at  @mike_curato and check out his latest graphic novel  Gaysians available now on the...

On our mid-month check in for June 2025, we highlight some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, and catch up on the latest book tea! Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news: Stormraven by Kelsea Yu Momma's Christmas Gift by Kao Kalia Yang ; illust. by Jacqueline Tam Blood of Silver by Allie Nguyen Worth a Shot by Dora Wang Lion Dancer's Lost Lettuce by Michelle Jing Chan...

On this episode, we're excited to welcome author Susan Lee to the podcast to chat about her latest novel, The Romance Rivalry , a YA romantic comedy about two rival booktubers who find themselves as freshmen at the same small liberal arts college and enter a competition with each other to see who can find love first using nothing but romance tropes! Follow Susan on Instagram at  @susanleewrit...

On this episode, we discuss our May 2025 book club pick Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su. A story about Vi, a twenty three year old biracial midwest Asian American woman, reeling from a bad breakup and a lifetime of bad choices, who finds a sentient blob in the alleys behind a bar and decides to mold it into her ideal romantic partner. What could go wrong? Books & Boba is a podcast dedicated to...

On this episode, we're excited to welcome NYT bestselling author Axie Oh, who joins us to chat about her latest novel The Floating World , an epic romantic fantasy following the adventures of an amnesiac mercenary and a small town village girl (with hidden chosen one powers) that blends the JRPG vibes of Final Fantasy with a re-imagining of the Korean Legend of the Celestial Maidens. Follow A...

On our mid-month check in for May 2025, we highlight some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, celebrate some Asian American authors on the NYT bestsellers list, and check in on some increasingly bummer news happening in the industry (and society)! Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news: Julia Song is Undateable by Susan Lee Shoe Box Dreams by Qing Zhuang Roar by Varsha...

On this episode, we're excited to welcome Carolyn Huynh, the author of Books & Boba pick The Fortunes of Jaded Women , to discuss her sophomore novel, The Family Recipe , another dramedy about a messy Vietnamese American family, this time following the estranged scions of a banh mi empire who are thrown into competition with each other for their inheritance by their eccentric father. Follow Ca...