On our first mid-month book news check-in episode for 2026, we go over the latest Asian American publishing news from the holiday season, as well as check out some of January's new releases from Asian and Asian American authors.

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

1. Death Wish by Lilly Lu
2. What Hungers in the Dark by Monika Kim
3. How to Crash a Kite by Ellie Peterson
4. Tokki's Tricks by Aram Kim
5. Girl Gods by K-Ming Chang
6. Cerulean by Sajni Patel
7. Hanging Out with Nani by Vikram Madan

January New Releases mentioned in our book news:

1. The Swan's Daughter by Roshani Chokshi (Jan 6)
2. Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself and China by Jung Chang (Jan 13)
3. A Year Without Home by V.T. Bidania (Jan 13)
4. This Is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin (Jan 13)
5. City of Others by Jared Poon (Jan 13)
6. The Moon Without Stars by Chanel Miller (Jan 13)
7. A Midnight Pastry Shop Called Hwawoldang by Lee Onhwa (Jan 13)
8. How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder by Nina McConigley (Jan 20)
9. The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao (Jan 20)
10. The Poet Empress by Shen Tao (Jan 20)
11. Two Women Living Together by Kim Hana, Hwang Sunwoo; Gene Png (Translator) (Jan 20)
12. Early Mornings at the Laksa Cafe by Janet Tay (Jan 27)
13. A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing by Alice Evelyn Yang (Jan 27)

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

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

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1. Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)
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The Books & Boba January 2026 pick is Reef by Romesh Gunesekera

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

Hey everyone! We're back from our holiday break for our first podcast of 2026 and we're finally discussing our December 2025 Book Club Pick Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala. A X'mas themed cozy mystery (but actually a story about family and Filipino noms). At this point, we're kind of murder mystery connoisseurs so this was the perfect end of year treat for us. Fun fact, we did an author chat with the author back in 2021 for her first book so we're excited to come back to this world for the holidays!

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

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

1. Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perks
2. Purchasing books at our bookshop
3. Rocking our Books & Boba merch

Follow our hosts:

1. Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)
2. Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)

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The Books & Boba January 2026 pick is Reef by Romesh Gunesekera

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

On our final mid-month book news episode in 2025, we review some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, and weigh in on some recent book tea for December 2025!

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

1. Light and Thread by Han Kang
2. When We Swallowed the Sea by Janet Hong
3. Limitlessly, Mina by Gianna Lakenauth
4. Take to the Sky by Christina Soontornvat
5. Not Again, Dragon Chen! by Amanda Adams; illust. Wazza Pink
6. Jin Young, In Between by Ellen Oh
7. Don't Print This by Monica Chin
8. A Super Definitely True Story of the Great Animal Race by Dane Liu; illust. Aki
9. Foreigners by E.L. Shen

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

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

1. Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perks
2. Purchasing books at our bookshop
3. Rocking our Books & Boba merch

Follow our hosts:

1. Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)
2. Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)

Follow us:

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2. Twitter
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The Books & Boba December 2025 pick is Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala

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

On this episode we discuss our November 2025 book club pick, Taiwan Travelogue by Shuang-zi Yang, translated by Lin King, a historical fiction novel (with a meta-fiction twist) about a Japanese travel writer invited to write about the imperial colony of Taiwan by the Japanese government in the 1930's, and follows her budding relationship with her Taiwanese translator as they eat through the island while she pushes on the boundaries between colonizer and colonized.

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

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

• Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perks
• Purchasing books at our bookshop
• Rocking our Books & Boba merch

Follow our hosts:

• Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)
• Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)

Follow us:

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The Books & Boba December 2025 pick is Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala

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

On this episode, we chat with bestselling author Lyla Lee to chat about her new YA romance novel, The Cuffing Game, a modern Korean American take on the timeless enemy-to-lovers tale Pride & Prejudice, remixed with the chaotic reality TV energy of Love Island about an aspiring student producer who reluctantly recruits her crush to participate in the college dating show she is producing. Lyla shares with us her journey to becoming an author of young, middle-grade, and young adult fiction, as well as all her inspirations for The Cuffing Game.

Follow Lyla on Instagram at @authorlylalee and check out her newest novel The Cuffing Game available now on the Books & Boba bookshop!

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

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

• Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perks
• Purchasing books at our bookshop
• Rocking our Books & Boba merch

Follow our hosts:

• Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)
• Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)

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The Books & Boba November 2025 book club pick is Taiwan Travelogue by Shuang-zi Yang, translated by Lin King

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

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
• The Peacock Throne by Zeba Shahnaz 
• Forest Freaks by Nat Iwata
• Mei Mei the Bunny by Laufey; Illusy. Lauren O'Hara
• Aunties by Pooja Makhijani; illust. Ruchi Mhasane
• The Girl, the Village, and the Terrible Thunder by Aimee Yealim Lee; illust. Hyewon Yum
• Jade vs. the Claw Machine by Margaret Chiu Greanias; illust. Heather Brockman Lee
• Sun's Eid by Natasha Khan Kazi
• The Echo of Empires by Shameen Abubakar
• untitled picture book biography of Katherine Sui-Fun Cheung by Cheryl Kim; illust. Nicole Wong. 
• Mongoose's Holi Party by Darshana Khiani; illust. Abhilasha Khatri
• The Gods Will Sing Our Song by Autumn Krause
• Echoes Across the Water by Livia Blackburne
• What's for Iftar?! by Razeena Omar Gutta; illust. Esraa Hedery

Book news mentioned on this episode:

• 2025 Goodreads Choice Awards begins (Asian authors nominated for awards listed below)

Readers’ Favorite Fiction

• The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
• A Guardian and Thief by Megha Majumdar
• The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

Favorite Historical Fiction

• Homeseeking by Karissa Chan

Favorite Mystery & Thriller

• Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Favorite Romance

• King of Envy by Ana Huang

Favorite Romantasy

• A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
• Alchemised by SenLinYu 
• Immortal by Sue Lynn Tan

Favorite Fantasy

• Red City by Marie Lu
• Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
• Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao

Favorite Science-Fiction

• Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto
• Saltcrop by Yume Kitase
• These Memories Don’t Belong to Us by Yiming Ma
• Luminous by Silvia Park
• Local Heavens by K.M. Fajardo

Favorite Horror

• What Hunger by Catherine Dang
• Bat Eater and Other Words for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker
• Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang

Favorite Debut

• Homeseeking by Karissa Chen
• The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei
• Alchemised by SenLinYu

Favorite Young Adult Fantasy & Sci-Fi

• Hekate:The Witch by Nikita Gill
• Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao
• Every Spiral of Fate by Tahereh Mafi
• Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi
• The Floating World by Axie Oh
• Breath of the Dragon by Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee
• Never Ever After by Sue Lynn Tan
• A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim

Favorite Young Adult Fiction

• You’ve Found Oliver by Dustin Thao
• When Devils Sing by Xan Kaur
• I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang

Favorite Memoir

• Finding My Way by Malala Yousafzai
• 107 Days by Kamala Harris
• Mother May Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
• Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li

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

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

• Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perks
• Purchasing books at our bookshop
• Rocking our Books & Boba merch

Follow our hosts:

• Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)
• Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)

Follow us:

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The Books & Boba November 2025 book club pick is Taiwan Travelogue by Shuang-zi Yang, translated by Lin King

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

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 and her co-workers on a blood-soaked quest as they try to simultaneously figure out how to exorcise her ghost, as well as solve a series of serial murders in NYC, all involving East Asian women.

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

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

• Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perks
• Purchasing books at our bookshop
• Rocking our Books & Boba merch

Follow our hosts:

• Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)
• Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)

Follow us:

• Instagram
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The Books & Boba November 2025 book club pick is Taiwan Travelogue by Shuang-zi Yang, translated by Lin King

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

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 dangerous trip across the seas to find her.

Follow Yume on Instagram at @yumewrites and check out her newest novel Saltcrop available now on the Books & Boba bookshop!

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

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

• Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perks
• Purchasing books at our bookshop
• Rocking our Books & Boba merch

Follow our hosts:

• Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)
• Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)

Follow us:

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The Books & Boba October 2025 pick is Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

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

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 by Ayad Akhtar
• The Museum of Modern Love by Mariko Turk
• Sir Silly by Gavin Aung Than
• Emily Min-ji Makes Kimchi by Meredith Seung Mee Buse; illust. Jenn Kocsmiersky
• The River of Caregiving by Jocelyn Chung; illust. Sarah Gonzales
• Of Wind and Dust by Shirin Yim Leos
• Project Juni by Kaitlyn San Miguel
• Medusa's Pet Rock by Steph Lau
•  Chrysanthemum's Glow written by Livia Blackburne; illust. Julia Kuo
•  Fishbone Cinderella by Elizabeth Lim
•  The Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham
•  Born by Sarah Ling
• The Fallen Sun by C.M. Basma
•  Swimming Lessons for a Mermaid by Yongchan
• Who the Flan Am I? by Kiera Wright-Ruiz and Claudia Lam
• The Missing Magic of Sparrow Xia by Leia Ham
• Bear Wakes Up by Lisa Chow
• Frankie Lu's Summer of No Regrets by Betty Chang
• I Shall Master This Family by Kim Roah, Mon, and ANTStudio

Book news mentioned on this episode:

• 2025 Finalists for the National Book Awards
• Alchemised by SenLinYu debuted at #1 on the New York Time’s Hardcover Fiction list on October 12th

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

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

• Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perks
• Purchasing books at our bookshop
• Rocking our Books & Boba merch

Follow our hosts:

• Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)
• Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)

Follow us:

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• Facebook

The Books & Boba October 2025 pick is Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

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

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 her into an internet self-help influencer.

Follow Jade on Instagram at @hellojadechang and check out her newest novel What a Time to be Alive available now on the Books & Boba bookshop!

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

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

• Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perks
• Purchasing books at our bookshop
• Rocking our Books & Boba merch

Follow our hosts:

• Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)
• Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)

Follow us:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• Goodreads
• Facebook

The Books & Boba October 2025 pick is Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

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