Books and Boba

Latest Episodes:

#353 - Author Chat w/ Canwen Xu May 11, 2026

Show notes

On this episode, we chat with Canwen Xu about her debut novel, Boring Asian Female, a thriller about a Chinese American college student who, in the midst of spiraling from having failed her life's dream of being accepted into Harvard Law School, decides to stalk a fellow Asian classmate who did make it in to see what makes her so special!

Follow Canwen on Instagram at @Canwen.Xu and check out her new novel Boring Asian Female 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:

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba May 2026 pick is No-No Boy by John Okada

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

#352 - The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao May 04, 2026

Show notes

On this episode, we discuss our April 2026 book club pick, The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao, chosen for us by our patrons (you can help us pick our next patron's choice in July by joining our patreon). Pitched a a Ghibli-style cozy fantasy (but we found it to be a little more than it seems), The Elsewhere Express is a ethereal train that appears to pick up passengers who have lost their purpose in life. This night, it picks up 2 wayward souls, and offers then a chance to find a new purpose on board it's dreamlike cars, but is there a catch?

Books & Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authors

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba May 2026 pick is No-No Boy by John Okada

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

#351 - Author Chat w/ Kelly Yang Apr 27, 2026

Show notes

On this episode, we welcome Kelly Yang to the podcast to chat about her adult novel debut, The Take, a story about a young Chinese American woman who aspires to become a novelist, and a veteran Hollywood producer who offers to help her break into the industry... in return for a bit of her youth. We're so excited to finally have the chance to chat with Kelly about her adult debut after a prolific career writing books for middle grade and young adult readers, including past Books & Boba book club pick Front Desk!

Follow Lisa on Instagram at @kellyyanghk and check out her new novel The Take 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:

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba April 2026 pick is The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao

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

#350 - April 2026 Book News Apr 20, 2026

Show notes

For our mid-month book news check in for April 2026, we catch up on the latest Asian American publishing announcements as well as check in on some distressing news for our legacy Kindles.

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

The Library of Lost Time by Vaishnavi Patel
BoxBoxBoxBox by Wan Sakamoto
Mama's Magical Hands by Yu An Xie
The Kids Came Back Wrong edited by Wen-yi Lee
Crush by Souvankham Thammavongsa
It Was an Ordinary Name by Souvankham Thammavongsa
The Golden Shoes by Jocelyn Cho
The Summer I Turned Pretty Graphic Novel by Cynthia Yuan Cheng and Arielle Jovellanos; illust by Sara Faber
Before & Now by Balsam El-bayya
Goat for Dinner by Tao Nyeu
Curiosities by Robert Kondo and Megan Bartel
Sarah in Charge by Ellen Oh
This Is Our Diwali by Jyoti Rajan Gopal; illust by Michelle Pereira
The Book Witch by Nora Elghazzawi
Magic Shoyu Shop by Debbi Michiko Florence; illust. by Minako Tomigahara

Book news mentioned on this episode:

Amazon pulls support from Kindles pre-2013

Books & Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authors

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba April 2026 pick is The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao

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

#349 - Author Chat w/ Rachel Khong Apr 13, 2026

Show notes

On this episode, we're very excited to bring you an author chat with Rachel Khong, author of our September 2017 book club pick Goodbye Vitamin (episode 28), to talk about her latest book, My Dear You, a short story collection featuring a genre-spanning stories exploring themes of identity, relationships, and time. From a story about missed connections and a cat that conjures the ghosts of ex-boyfriends, to contemplation of the afterlife both literal and figurative.

Follow Lisa at thedreamside.com and check out her new book My Dear You 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:

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba April 2026 pick is The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao

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

#348 - Author Chat w/ Lisa Lee Apr 06, 2026

Show notes

We sit down for an author chat with Lisa Lee to talk with her about about her debut novel American Han, a Korean American family drama about the Kims, a family whose members are each going through their own personal crises. When an even bigger crisis occurs the whole family is forced to come together and deal with the consequences of decades of built up resentment and estrangement, all stemming from the relentless pursuit of the "Amerian Dream."

Follow Lisa on Instagram at @lisaleehello and check out her new novel American Han 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:

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba April 2026 pick is The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao

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

#347 - Butter by Asako Yuzuki Mar 30, 2026

Show notes

On this episode, we discuss our March 2026 Book Club Pick, Butter by Asako Yuzuki, a story of food and murder following a Japanese journalist who begins a professional relationship with a convicted serial killer, charged with the murders of three domestic partners, in hopes of getting an exclusive interview. However, she ends up getting more than she bargained for as she gets sucked into the killer's philosophy and worldview that leads her to question amd she knows about the pleasures of food, the importance of friendships, as well as how traditional gender roles makes fools of us all.

Books & Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authors

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba April 2026 pick is TBA (check our Instagram or website in a few days)!

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

#346 - March 2026 Book News Mar 17, 2026

Show notes

For our mid-month book news check in for March 2026, we catch up on the latest Asian American publishing announcements as well as check in on the ongoing fight against book bans:

The Carlton Girls: Casey and the Cruel Thief by Julie Abe
The Goodfolke Family by Roshani Chokshi
P.S. Are We Friends Now? by John Schu and Jasmine Warga
My Neighbor Yokai by noho
Fall, in Love by Mia Kayla
The Gravedigger's Apprentice by Linda Cheng
Seeking Wonderful by Susan Yoon; illust. Veronica Mang
We Are the Light: A Story of Diwali by Rajani LaRocca; illust. Sayan Mukherjee
Home Is Waiting to Be Found by Tina Athaide; ilust. Vũ Thủy Ngọc Hà
Matcha & Matches by Cara Tanamachi
Tea Leaves and Fate Strings by C.B. Lee
The Red Thread by Laura G. Lee
Scream, Queen! by Sujin Witherspoon

Book news mentioned on this episode:

Lee & Low postpones their quadrennial Diversity Baseline Survey in order to concentrate on fighting book bans

Books & Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authors

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba March 2026 pick is Butter by Asako Yuzuki

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

#345 - Behind Frenemy Lines by Zen Cho Mar 02, 2026

Show notes

On this episode, we discuss our February 2026 book club pick, Behind Frenemy Lines by Zen Cho, a romantic comedy about two Asian lawyers in London who share an (kinda?) adversarial relationship who end up sharing an office and perhaps become something more as they find themselves in a pseudo fake relationship to help with each other's personal troubles. We read Zen Cho's Regency era fantasy romance Sorcerer to the Crown almost a decade ago and were very excited to see what a contemporary Zen Cho romance looks like.

Books & Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authors

Support the Books & Boba Podcast by:

Follow our hosts:

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

The Books & Boba March 2026 pick is Butter by Asako Yuzuki

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

#344 - February 2026 Book News Feb 23, 2026

Show notes

Happy New Year! On our first mid-month book news check-in episode for the year of the horse, we go over a hefty list of latest Asian American publishing news as the publishing industry revs back into gear after the holidays.

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

Blur the Lines by Kanitha P.
Paper Ghosts by Samantha Chong
Cold Blood by Aashna Avachat
Untitled Contemporary YA By Jesmeen Kaur Deo
The Strange Sketches of Luna Li by Gloria L. Huang
She Comes Out at Night by Michelle Jing Chan
If We Could Be Everywhere by Sarah Suk
The Sisterhood of Southern Peaches by Katrina Moore
Footprints in Snow by Keiko Hayner
Something Inside Me Knows by Malinda Lo
The Luckies by Sarah Mlynowski and Christina Soontornvat; illust. by Madi Wong
The Monster Inside by Cherry Mo
Jitty and the Machine by Mitali Banerjee Ruths; illust.by Iacopo Bruno
Wipe Out by Saadia Faruqi; illust. by Karen De la Vega
The Erhu Sings by Sally Deng
Blooming Behind Barbed Wire by Traci Huahn; illust. by Mayumi Sasage
House of Forgotten Souls by Kat Cho
Hello, DELA, by Kiku Hughes
Tae Lim Decks It Out by Angela Ahn
Izzy and Wolfi by Dane Liu; illust. by Maya Tatsukawa
The Light Garden by Joanna Ho; illust. by Minako Tomigahara