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 Bajaj 
• The Stolen 
• Queen by Kendare Blake
• Ah Ma's Home by Gillian Sze; illust by Leah Hong
• The Oks Are Not O.K. by Grace K. Shim
• When Shadows Burn by Vanessa Le
• At Fifteen by Remy Lai; illust by Basia Tran
•  Friday Nights in Chinatown by Michelle Lam
• Arlo All Over Again by Sayuri Stabrowski; illust by Dave Szalay
• Love Language by Christine Ko
• Instar by Sabrina Imbler
• Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi
• The Floating World by Axie Oh

Book news mentioned on this episode:

• NYT Bestsellers List
• Romantasy ball turns into a Fyre Festival 
• Amazon’s Audible unveils plans to use AI for narrating and translating
• Firing of the Librarian of Congress

Books & Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authors

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The Books & Boba May 2025 pick is Blob by Maggie Su

This podcast is part of Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective