Books and Boba

Latest Episodes:

#220 - Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers May 06, 2023

Show notes

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*

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

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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

#219 - Author Chat w/ Victoria Ying May 04, 2023

Show notes

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)

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

#218 - Author Chat w/ Vibhuti Jain Apr 28, 2023

Show notes

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)

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! Apr 24, 2023

Show notes

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)

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

#217 - April 2023 Book News Apr 21, 2023

Show notes

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 Streetby Booki Vivat
Seeker of Truth: Kailash Satyarthi's Fight to End Child Labor by Srividhya Venkat; illust by Danica da Silva Pereira
ASAPby 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)

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

#216 - Author Chat w/ Maurene Goo Apr 14, 2023

Show notes

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)

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

#215 - Front Desk by Kelly Yang Apr 07, 2023

Show notes

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)

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

#214 - Author Chat w/ Rachel Heng Mar 31, 2023

Show notes

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)

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

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

#213 - March 2023 Book News Mar 17, 2023

Show notes

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)

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

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

#212 - Author Chat w/ Kathryn Ma Mar 10, 2023

Show notes

On this episode, we chat with author Kathryn Ma about her latest novel, The Chinese Groove, about the adventures of a Chinese immigrant who moves to American to pursue his American dream, armed only with his optimism and his in depth knowledge of "The Chinese Groove."

Follow Kathryn on twitter at @Kathryn_E_Ma and check out her novel The Chinese Groove on sale now!

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

Follow our hosts: