Books and Boba

On this episode, we discuss our July 2025 pick is Bingsu for Two by Sujin Witherspoon, a coffee house romantic comedy set in Seattle about high school senior River, who is reeling from the consequences of a series of disastrous personal decisions and seeks refuge at a small Korean cafe where he finds a found family and maybe even an enemies-to-lovers romance with the goth Korean girl of his dreams/nightmares, too bad that it's also the coffee house that his chain family business is directly targeting to put out of business.

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 August 2025 The Wangs Vs. The World by Jade Chang

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

Note: This is a re-upload of episode 321 since we had the wrong audio file uploaded last week, apologies for any confusion!

On our mid-month check in for July 2025, we highlight some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, and catch up on the latest book news!

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

• Break Room by Miye Lee; translated by Sandy Jooson Lee
• Gods & Comics by Kat Cho 
• Yuki's Special Delivery by Chloe Ito Ward; illust. by Jiangshan Lyu
• The Pain Chasers by Bora Chung; translated by Anton Hur
• Monkey Dragon Rabbit! A Wild Lunar New Year Stampede by MeiLin Chan; illust. by Kristen Chow
• Friends Furever by Sylvia Liu

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 July 2025 pick is Bingsu for Two by Sujin Witherspoon

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

On our mid-month check in for July 2025, we highlight some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, and catch up on the latest book news!

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

• Break Room by Miye Lee; translated by Sandy Jooson Lee
• Gods & Comics by Kat Cho 
• Yuki's Special Delivery by Chloe Ito Ward; illust. by Jiangshan Lyu
• The Pain Chasers by Bora Chung; translated by Anton Hur
• Monkey Dragon Rabbit! A Wild Lunar New Year Stampede by MeiLin Chan; illust. by Kristen Chow
• Friends Furever by Sylvia Liu

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 July 2025 pick is Bingsu for Two by Sujin Witherspoon

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

On this episode, we sit down with author Allison King to chat about her debut novel The Phoenix Pencil Company, a novel that's part historical fiction, part magical realism, and part sapphic romance about a young woman who discovers her family's secret magical power to reconstruct anything written by a pencil while taking care of her ailing grandmother and learning about her own family's history from Shanghai to Taiwan to the States.

Follow Allison on Instagram at @allisonkingwrites and check out her debut novel The Phoenix Pencil Company 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 July 2025 pick is Bingsu for Two by Sujin Witherspoon

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

On this episode, we're joined by author Naomi Xu Elegant to chat about her debut novel Gingko Season, a story about a young Chinese American woman finding love, identity, purpose, and political awakening alongside her friends, set in New York City in 2018.

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 July 2025 pick is Bingsu for Two by Sujin Witherspoon

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

On this episode, we discuss our June 2025 book club pick is Afterparties by the late Anthony Veasna So, a short story collection about a community of Cambodian Americans in San Joaquin County. Join us as we discuss all nine short stories that take us through a myriad of emotions with Anthony's often melancholic, sometimes hopeful, and darkly funny storytelling.

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 July 2025 pick is Bingsu for Two by Sujin Witherspoon

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

On this episode, we welcome award winning author and illustrator Mike Curato to the podcast to chat about his latest graphic novel, Gaysians, an adult graphic novel following four gay Asians navigating love, identity, found family, and friendship in early 2000's Seattle.

Follow Mike on Instagram at @mike_curato and check out his latest graphic novel Gaysians 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 June 2025 pick is Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So

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

On our mid-month check in for June 2025, we highlight some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, and catch up on the latest book tea!

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

• Stormraven by Kelsea Yu
• Momma's Christmas Gift by Kao Kalia Yang; illust. by Jacqueline Tam
• Blood of Silver by Allie Nguyen
• Worth a Shot by Dora Wang
• Lion Dancer's Lost Lettuce by Michelle Jing Chan
• Leaf It to Me! by Katrina Moore; illust. by Biva Nguyen
• Fried Rice Surprise by Patricia Tanumihardja; illust. by Shiho Pate
• More Than What Eyes See by Miso Kwak; illust. by Thaís Mesquita
• Kiri by Alice Chu
• The Quest for the Longest Noodle by Stephanie Sy; illust. by Cindy Wume
• Hunger Fighter by Jacqueline Chio-Lauri; illust. by Kristin Sorra
• Oh, My Affogato! by Daphne Ang and Donna Ghorbanpoor
• Planted by Niña Mata
• Today Is Children's Day by Aram Kim
• The Shape of Love by Carren Jao; illust. by Corinne Caro
• Shaping Ramadan by Mustaali Raj
• Beneath the Same Round Moon by Jasmine Fang; illust. by Rồng Phạm & Vinh Nguyễn

Book news mentioned on this episode:

• Chicago Sun-Times publishes a summer reading list filled with fake titles generated by AI
• BookToker given book deals despite having zero writing experience

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 June 2025 pick is Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So

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

On this episode, we're excited to welcome author Susan Lee to the podcast to chat about her latest novel, The Romance Rivalry, a YA romantic comedy about two rival booktubers who find themselves as freshmen at the same small liberal arts college and enter a competition with each other to see who can find love first using nothing but romance tropes!

Follow Susan on Instagram at @susanleewrites and check out her latest novel The Romance Rivalry 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 June 2025 pick is Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So

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

On this episode, we discuss our May 2025 book club pick Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su. A story about Vi, a twenty three year old biracial midwest Asian American woman, reeling from a bad breakup and a lifetime of bad choices, who finds a sentient blob in the alleys behind a bar and decides to mold it into her ideal romantic partner. What could go wrong?

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 June 2025 pick is Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So

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