Books and Boba

Latest Episodes:

#151 - Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay Sep 04, 2021

Show notes

On this episode, we discuss our August 2021 pick is Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay, a YA coming-of-age story set against the background of Philippine's President Duterte's war on drugs. Jay is a bored Filipino American teen in the midst of some major senioritis when he learns that his cousin Jun, who he was once close with, was killed as part of Duterte's purge of drug pushers and addicts. Wanting to learn the truth behind Jun's death, Jay takes his first trip to the Philippines in over a decade.

*Support the podcast by purchasing books at our bookshop *

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba September 2021 pick is Chemistry by Weike Wang

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

#150 - Author Chat with Amanda Jayatissa Aug 31, 2021

Show notes

On this episode, we chat with author Amanda Jayatissa about her debut novel My Sweet Girl,a thriller about a woman trying to unravel the mystery behind her roommate's death (and the subsequent disappearance of his body), which leads face to face toa reckoning decades in the making that stems back to her own adoption from Sri Lanka. We chat with Amanda about her journey as a writer, including her adventures in self-publishing, as well as the spooky inspirations behind her story.

Follow Meredith on IG at @amandajayatissa and check out her book My Sweet Girl at your local bookseller or our online bookshop

*Support the podcast by purchasing books at our bookshop *

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba August 2021 pick is Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

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

#149 - Author Chat w/ Meredith Ireland Aug 26, 2021

Show notes

On this episode, we chat with author Meredith Ireland about her debut YA novel The Jasmine Project,a romantic comedy about a girl named Jasmine, freshly "on-break" with her kinda shitty boyfriend, who's loving and meddlesome family sets up a makeshift Bachelorette style dating competition for her... without her knowledge of course. We have a fun chat with Meredith about her journey as a writer, as well as her inspirations for her wild and ultimately heartwarming debut novel.

Follow Meredith on IG at @writermeredithireland and check out her book The Jasmine Project at your local bookseller starting September 7, 2021!

*Support the podcast by purchasing books at our bookshop *

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba August 2021 pick is Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

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

#148 - August 2021 Book News Aug 20, 2021

Show notes

On this episode, we highlight the latest book and publishing news in Asian American literature for our August 2021 mid-month check-in!

New books mentioned in our publishing news:

Julia Vee & Ken Bebelle - Ebony Gate
C.B. Lee - A Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe
Alice Lin - Fireworks
Trang Thanh Tran - She Is a Haunting
Susie Lee Jin - Not an Egg; Not a Pumpkin; and Not a Heart
Tara Sim - We Shall Be Monsters
Diana Ma - Extracurricular
Joanna Ho - The Wave Riders; Say My Name
Christine Mari - Kokoro
Elsie Chapman - Kokoro
Tadaaki Imaizumi & Takashi Maruyama - Why We Went Extinct
Ream Shukairy - The Next New Syrian Girl
Livia Blackburne -Nainai’s Mountain
Saadia Faruqi -Rani
Margaret Chiu Greanias - Hooked on Books
Emery Lee - Café Con Lychee
Catherine Yu - Direwood
Hope Lim - At the Window
Raakhee Mirchandani - My Diwali Light; Mama's Roti

*Support the podcast by purchasing books at our bookshop *

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba August 2021 pick is Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

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

#147 - Author Chat w/ Andrea Wang Aug 17, 2021

Show notes

On this episode, we chat with author Andrea Wang about her new middle grade novel The Many Meaning of Meilan,a coming of age story about a Chinese American girl who finds strength in the many meanings of her name as she struggles to adjust to moving from Boston's Chinatown to a small town in Ohio. We chat with Andrea about her journey to becoming a childen's book author and her inspirations for writing her novel. We also share some of our own experiences with our uncommon Asian names.

Follow Andrea on IG at @andreawhywang and check out her book The Many Meanings of Meilan at your local bookseller!

*Support the podcast by purchasing books at our bookshop *

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba August 2021 pick is Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

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

#146 - An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim Aug 03, 2021

Show notes

On this episode, we discuss our July 2021 book club pick, An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim, a Sci-Fi time travel novel about a woman who journeys to the future as an indentured worker to save the life of the man she loves in the midst of a global pandemic. The story follows her struggles as a temporally migrant worker as she tries to find her way home while dealing with the aftermath of a devastating pandemic where she no longer has any legal status or citizenship.

Content Warning: Discussion of a scene regarding attempted sexual assault at 45:31 - 47:17

*Support the podcast by purchasing books at our bookshop *

Follow our hosts:

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

Follow our guests:

Jess Ju (@jessjutweets)
Hanh Nguyen (@hanhonymous)
Check out their pop culture podcast w/ Marvin at goodpop.club

The Books & Boba August 2021 pick is Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

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

#145 - Author Chat w/ Emiko Jean Jul 21, 2021

Show notes

On this episode, we chat with author Emiko Jean about her latest novel Tokyo Ever After,a YA story about a Japanese American girl from Northern California who finds out she's actually an imperial princess of Japan. We chat with Emiko about her journey as a writer, and how it led her to write her latest novel.

Follow Emiko on IG at @emikojeanbooks and check out her book Tokyo Ever After at your local bookseller!

*Support the podcast by purchasing books at our bookshop *

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba July 2021 pick is An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim

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

#144 - July 2021 Book News Jul 16, 2021

Show notes

On this episode, we highlight the latest book and publishing news in Asian American literature for our July 2021 mid-month check-in!

*Support the podcast by purchasing books at our bookshop *

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba July 2021 pick is An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim

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

#143 - Happy Endings by Thien-Kim Lam Jul 07, 2021

Show notes

On this episode, we discuss our June 2021 book club pick, Happy Endings by Thien-Kim Lam, a romance novel about a second-chance romance between Trixie, a sex-toy saleswoman, and her ex Andre, a chef/bartender trying to keep his mother's restaurant afloat in a gentrifying DC neighborhood. Joining us are romance novel experts Jess Ju and Hanh Nguyen of the Good Pop Culture Club Podcast.

*Support the podcast by purchasing books at our bookshop *

Follow our hosts:

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

Follow our guests:

Jess Ju (@jessjutweets)
Hanh Nguyen (@hanhonymous)
Check out their pop culture podcast w/ Marvin at goodpop.club

The Books & Boba July 2021 pick is An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim

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

#142 - Author Chat w/ David Yoon Jun 25, 2021

Show notes

On this episode, we chat with author (and publisher) David Yoon about his latest novel Version Zero,a thriller taking place in the fast paced and cutthroat world of the social media tech industry, where the only way to fix the world, may be to start over from zero. We ask David about his experience publishing his first adult fiction novel, as well as his takes on the pros and cons of social media, the tech industry, & capitalism.

Follow David on IG at @davidoftheyoon and check out his book Version Zero at your local bookseller!

*Support the podcast by purchasing books at our bookshop *

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