Books and Boba

On this episode, we chat with debut author Deepa Varadarajan about her novel, Late Bloomers, about an Indian American family of two recent divorcees and their adult children who are each going through their own romantic adventures and turmoil. We chat with Deepa about the inspirations behind her book as well as why "Late Bloomers" is such a relatable trope for Asian American children of immigrants.

Follow Deepa on IG at @deepavaradara and check out her debut novel, Late Bloomers, availaible 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 May 2023 pick is The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh

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

On this episode, we discuss our April 2023 book club pick, Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto. A murder mystery where super-auntie Vera Wong attempts to solve the murder of a mystery man she finds one morning lying dead in her tea shop, and inadvertently forms a found family with her suspects.

*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 May 2023 pick is The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh

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

On this episode, we chat with author and illustrator Victoria Ying about her new YA graphic novel, Hungry Ghost, a coming of age story about a Chinese American girl dealing with adolescence, parental expectation, and eating disorders. We talk with Victoria about her background in animation as well as her semi-autobiographical inspirations behind the story of Hungry Ghost.

Follow Victoria on IG at @victoriaying and check out her new graphic novel, Hungry Ghost, availaible 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 April 2023 pick is Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto

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

On this episode, debut author Vibhuti Jain joins us to chat about her new novel, Our Best Intentions, a thriller taking place in an affluent New York neighborhood that has been thrown into chaos after a high school was stabbed. In the center is Angie Singh, a gifted teenage swimmer, who's life with her single father Babur gets uravelled as she delves deeper into the case.

Follow Vibhuti on IG at @vibhutiwrites and check out her debut novel Our Best Intentions, availaible now at 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 April 2023 pick is Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto

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

Introducing Boba Chats! Books & Boba's new monthly bonus podcast where Reera and Marvin (and future guests) chat about non-book related things and answer listener questions. This bonus podcast is a perk for "Honey Boba" subscribers of our new Patreon, but we're making this first episode available for everyone as a treat.

On this inaugural episode of Boba Chat, Reera chats about the new Dungeons & Dragons film while Marvin reflects on his love of the cooking competition show Top Chef. Our hosts also discuss their boba origins.

Learn more about our Patreon by going to patreon.com/booksandboba

*You can also 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)

Follow us:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Goodreads Group

The Books & Boba April 2023 pick is Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto

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

On this episode, we check out the latest book and publishing news in Asian American literature for our April 2023 mid-month check-in, including going over some book to film adaptation news!

New books and authors mentioned in our publishing news:

• Maybe It's a Sign by E.L. Shen
• Meet Me on Mercer Street by Booki Vivat
• Seeker of Truth: Kailash Satyarthi's Fight to End Child Labor by Srividhya Venkat; illust by Danica da Silva Pereira
• ASAP by Axie Oh
• The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen
• With Twice the Love, Dessie Mei by Justina Chen
• A Rakhi for Rakesh by Nadia Salomon; illust by Nabi H. Ali
• The Lotus Flower Champion by Pintip Dunn and Love Dunn
• A Story of Our Own by Kao Kalia Yang
• The Rainbow Fair by Diana Ma
• We Are Warriors by Ellen Lee
• A Year of Kites by Monisha Bajaj; illust by Amber Ren
• When a Tiger Flies by Susie
• Shimcheong by Julia Riew
• The Wedding Shoe Snatch by Madhu Messenger; illust by Darshika Varma
• Mountains by Julia Kuo
• The Pet Placement Society by Primo Gallanosa
• On Thin Ice by Jessica Kim
• A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang

*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)

Follow us:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Goodreads Group

The Books & Boba April 2023 pick is Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto

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

Author Maurene Goo returns to Books & Boba to chat with us about her new novel, Throwback, a YA coming-of-age story. After getting into a fight with her mother, a Korean American girl who finds herself sent back to the year 1995 and meets her mother as a teen. We chat with Maurene about her inspirations for the book, as well as our own 90's nostalgia.

Follow Maurene on IG at @maurenegoo and check out her latest novel Throwback availaible now at the Books & Boba bookshop!

*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)

Follow us:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Goodreads Group

The Books & Boba April 2023 pick is Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto

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

On this episode, we discuss our March 2023 Book Club Pick, Front Desk by Kelly Yang, a middle grade coming of age novel about young Mia Tang who helps her immigrant parents run a motel in Southern California while dreaming of ways to help her parents achieve their American Dreams. Along the way, Mia encounters many challenges that modern day minorities face, including micro-aggressions from teachers, exploitation from business owners, and prejudices from law enforcement.

*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)

Follow us:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Goodreads Group

The Books & Boba April 2023 pick is Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q Sutanto

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

On this episode, we chat with author Rachel Heng about her new novel, The Great Reclamation , a sweeping historical fiction novel (with magical realism elements) about Lee Ah Boon, a boy with the ability to locate magical transient islands, as he and his family survive through decades of turbulence in Singapore, first under British colonization, then Japanese occupation, then British colonization again, before playing a role in the island's self actualization as an independent nation.

Follow Rachel on instagram at @rachelhengqp and check out her novel The Great Reclamation on sale now!

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

Books & Boba is a book club and podcast dedicated to books by Asian and Asian American authors.

Follow our hosts:

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

Follow us:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Goodreads Group

The Books & Boba March 2023 pick is Front Desk by Kelly Yang

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

On this episode, we check out the latest book and publishing news in Asian American literature for our March 2023 mid-month check-in, including catching up with the Harper Collins publishing announcements we missed during the strike.

New books and authors mentioned in our publishing news:

• Shanghailanders by Juli Min
• Four Eids and a Funeral by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé & Adiba Jaigirdar
• Women of Good Fortune by Sophie Wan
• Love Me Tomorrow series by Emiko Jean
• The Gift of Eid by Shifa Saltagi Safadi; illust by Aaliya Jaleel
• Stay With My Heart by Tashie Bhuiyan
• Champion of the Rose series by Cat Aquino & Dominique Duran
• Kindling by Traci Chee
• Copy Cat by Elyse Martin & Sean Rubin
• Kaho'olawe by Kamalani Hurley; illust by Harinani Orme
• The Dark We Know by Wen-yi Lee
• And Then Comes July by Sarah Jung
• New by Niña Mata
• Better Catch Up, Krishna Kumar by Anahita Karthik
• Celestial Banquet by Roselle Lim
• No Place Like Home by Linh S. Nguyễn
• I Lived Inside a Whale by Xin Lee
• Living Bridges by Sandhya Acharya; illust by Avani Dwivedi
• Do You Even Know Me? by Reem Faruqi; illust by Ani Bushry
• Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao

*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)

Follow us:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Goodreads Group

The Books & Boba March 2023 pick is Front Desk by Kelly Yang

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