For our mid-month book news check in for May 2026, we catch up on the latest Asian American publishing announcements as well as check in on some of the latest news and tea from the greater book industry.

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

• The First White Hair by Yasmin Zaher
• The Dragon Thief by Ellen Oh
• It Begins with the End by Samira Ahmed
• Summers in Syria by Shifa Saltagi Safadi; illust. by Hatem Aly
• Our Built World: An Architectural Journey Along the Silk Road by Fiyel Levent; illust. by Daby Zainab Faidhi
• Sheen by Cindy Pon
• Our Chinatown Market by Jasmine Fang; illust. by Thai My Phuong

Book news mentioned on this episode:

• TokyoPop launches Children’s imprint

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 2026 pick is No-No Boy by John Okada

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

Mentioned in this episode:

Don't miss an all AAPI production of HENRY VI: A Trilogy in Two Parts at The Public in NYC

NAATCO returns to The Public with their production of Shakespeare's trilogy, HENRY VI: A TRILOGY IN TWO PARTS, adapted and directed by Stephen Brown-Fried. Condensed into two parts and performed in rep, experience this saga of a nation spinning wildly out of control. Part 1: Foreign Wars kicks off with the funeral of King Henry V, leaving his infant son on the throne and sending the country into decades of spiraling chaos both abroad and at home. Part 2: Civil Strife picks up nearly 30 years later, as nascent domestic feuds rapidly metastasize into the full-blown civil war known as the War of the Roses.

Henry VI - The Public