Books and Boba

On our mid-month check in for November 2023, we review the latest Asian American book and publishing announcements, as well as follow up on the recent Scholastic book fair controversy as well as checking in on the latest literary awards!

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

• We Will Go to Jinju by Grace M. Cho
• The Typing Lady and To Live for Now by Ruth Ozeki
• Tea Is Love written by Adib Khorram; illust by Hanna Cha
• Mustafa's Mithai by Sana Rafi; illust by Nabi H. Ali
• Badge Quest by Guy Kopsombut
• Pig Town Party by Lian Cho
• A Hanbok for Hana by Korena Di Roma Howley; illust by Jaime Kim
• Aloha Everything by Kaylin Melia George; illust by Mae Waite
• Chang'e on the Moon by Katrina Moore; illust by Cornelia Li
• The Salt Princess by Anoosha Syed
• If You're Reading This, I'm Dead and The Comment Section by Arvin Ahmadi 
• Somewhere in the Gray by Michelle Jing Chan
• Inside the Compost Bin by Melody Sumaoang Plan; illust by Rong Pham & Vinh Nguyen
• Dreamslinger by Graci Kim
• Made for More by Chloe Ito Ward; illust by Gael Abary

*Support the podcast by supporting our new Patreon*

Follow our hosts:

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

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The Books & Boba November 2023 pick is Squire by Nadia Shammas & Sara Alfageeh

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

On this episode, we sit down with author Ye Chun to chat about her newest novel, Straw Dogs of the Universe, an decades spanning historical fiction about the early Chinese immigrants in America, following a daughter's search for her father who went missing after helping complete the transcontinental railroad.

Check out his novel, Straw Dogs of the Universe, available now on the Books & Boba bookshop!

*Support the podcast by supporting our new Patreon*

Follow our hosts:

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

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The Books & Boba February 2023 pick is The Charmed List by Julie Abe

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

On this episode, we discuss our October 2023 book club pick, Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang, a story about a piano prodigy conservatory dropout who takes a job at the high-end wellness company Holistik and gets drawn into the unsettling world of beauty for rich people, and what they're willing to pay to attain it. Part satire, part dystopian horror, with a helping of body horror and child of immigrant guilt, a perfect read for spooky month!

*Support the podcast by supporting our new Patreon*

Follow our hosts:

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

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The Books & Boba November 2023 pick is Squire by Nadia Shammas & Sara Alfageeh

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

On this episode, we are joined by Malaysian novelist Tan Twan Eng to talk about his new Booker Prize long-listed novel The House of Doors, a historical fiction story about British citizens living in colonial Malaya and their personal dramas that play out against the backdrop of significant real life events, including the murder trial Ethel Proudlock and the revolution of Dr. Sun Yat Sen. We chat with Twan about the challenges of writing fiction around real life characters and events as well as his inspiration for writing a story about white settlers in Malaysia.

Follow Twan on instagram at @tan.twan.eng and check out his novel, The House of Doors, available now on the Books & Boba bookshop!

*Support the podcast by supporting our new Patreon*

Follow our hosts:

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

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The Books & Boba October 2023 pick is Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

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

On our mid-month check in for October 2023, we review the latest Asian American book and publishing announcements, as well as catch up on the latest controversial moves by a prominent book corporation.

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

• Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie
• Untitled middle grade by Karina Yan Glaser
• One Mad Cat by Vicky Fang 
• Zuni and the Memory Jar by Aisha Saeed; illust by Neha Rawat
• Bread Is Love by Pooja Makhijani; illust by Lavanya Naidu
• Crossing the Finish Line by Thushanthi Ponweera; illust by Maithili Joshi
• Nora at Night by April dela Noche Milne
• The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen by Shokoofeh Azar
• The Tales from Cabin 23 by Justina Ireland and Hanna Alkaf
• Be Careful, Xiao Xin! by Alice Pung; illust by Sher Rill Ng
• Auntie Q's Golden Claws Nail Salon by Van Hoang
• Dust by Gina Nguyen
• Muslim Mavericks series by Seema Yasmin
• Chopsticks Are... by Chloe Ito Ward; illust by Lynn Scurfield
• What Sparks a Fire? by Livia Blackburne; illust by Nicole Xu
• Two-List Thanksgiving by Christine Whan; illust by Sienna Kim
• The Ghost Key by S.R. Appavu
• The Three Beasts by Gillian Pascasio
• Gracie Under the Waves by Linda Sue Park
• Zeyna Lost and Found by Shafaq Khan
• The Serpent Rider by Yxavel Magno Diño
• What a Weirdo! and What a World! by Laan Cham
• Lost and Found at the Gurdwara by Baljinder Kaur

News stories covered on this episode:

• Scholastic to separate books on race and sexuality for book fairs
• We Need Diverse Books’s statement condemning Scholastic’s decision

*Support the podcast by supporting our new Patreon*

Follow our hosts:

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

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The Books & Boba October 2023 pick is Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

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

On this author chat episode, we sit down with bestselling author Jean Kwok to discuss her latest novel THE LEFTOVER WOMEN, a suspenseful story about 2 women, one recent immigrant from China searching for the daughter that was taken from her at birth, and an affluent publishing executive trying to balance the needs of her career with her beloved adopted daughter. We chat with Jean about her personal journey as an author, and what inspired her to write her latest novel.

Follow Jean on instagram at @jeankwokauthor and check out her novel, The Leftover Women available now on the Books & Boba bookshop!

*Support the podcast by supporting our new Patreon*

Follow our hosts:

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

Follow us:

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The Books & Boba October 2023 pick is Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

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

On this episode, we discuss our September 2023 book club pick The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang, an Asian American family drama about a multi-generational restaurant family from the midwest and what happens to them and their town's Chinese American enclave when their tyrannical patriarch is found dead.

*Support the podcast by purchasing books at our bookshop or by buying Books & Boba merch at our Bonfire store*

Follow our hosts:

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

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The Books & Boba October 2023 pick is Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

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

On this episode, we sit down with bestselling author Olivie Blake to chat about the revised release of her first self-published novel, Masters of Death, a genre-bending contemporary fantasy about an aswang real estate agent and the godson of death just trying to get by in the modern world as anomalous beings. We chat with Olivie about not only her own journey as an author, but the journey of her first self-published novel as its re-emerges as a bestseller.

Follow Olivie on instagram at @olivieblake and check out her novel, Masters of Death, available now on the Books & Boba bookshop!

*Support the podcast by supporting our new Patreon*

Follow our hosts:

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

Follow us:

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The Books & Boba September 2023 pick is The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang

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

On our mid-month check in for September 2023, we review the latest Asian American book and publishing announcements, as well as catch up on some news from the ongoing literary awards season.

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

• Toward Eternity by Anton Hur
• Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay
• Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi
• Ahimsa is Everywhere by Suma Subramaniam; illust by Aparna Varma
• My Name is Ai Lin by Maria Wen Adcock; illust by Yu Ting
• Eid Tale by Aaliya Jaleel
• Celebrating Dong Zhi by Michelle Jing Chan
• This Book Won't Burn by Samira Ahmed
• The Romance Rivalry by Susan Lee
• Gamers by E.C. Meyers
• The Mithai Box is Not Empty by Namrata Agarwal; illust by Parvati Pillai

News stories covered on this episode:

• Asian nominees for the 2023 National Book Award longlist
• The Pulitzer Prize Board has expanded their eligibility to non-US Citizens

*Support the podcast by supporting our new Patreon*

Follow our hosts:

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

Follow us:

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The Books & Boba September 2023 pick is The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang

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

On this episode, we chat with author Andrew Yang (not the candidate) about his debut novel, I'm Not Here to Make Friends, a coming of age story about two girls who join the cast of a "Terrace House" like reality TV series that gathers six Asian Americans from across the country to live together for the cameras. Andrew shares with us his author's journey, as well as geek out a little with Reera about their favorite Terrace House moments.

Follow Andrew on twitter at @ayang_writes and check out his novel, I'm Not Here to Make Friends, available now on the Books & Boba bookshop!

*Support the podcast by supporting our new Patreon*

Follow our hosts:

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

Follow us:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Goodreads Group

The Books & Boba September 2023 pick is The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang

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