Books and Boba

Books and Boba

Books & Boba is a book club dedicated to books written by Asian and Asian American authors. We cover a wide range of genres including contemporary, historical fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, YA, nonfiction, thrillers, graphic novels, and memoirs.

Episodes

November 1, 2024 58 mins

On this episode, we discuss our October 2024 pick, The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw. A story following a flesh-eating mermaid and a plague doctor who encounter a village of children with an unsettling secret while on a journey through a snowy forest. Join us a we dive into this spooky read that melds the fairy tales of Anderson and Grimm and asks the question, what happens after the prince marries a creature from the dep...

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On this episode, we chat with Joanne Howard to talk about her debut novel Sleeping in the Sun, a coming of age story about a family of American missionaries living in India during the final years of the Brisish Raj. Joanne shares about her writers journey as well as how finding out about her own family's history as missionaries in India inspired her to write this story.

Follow Joanne on Instagram at @joannesbooks and check out ...

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October 18, 2024 42 mins

On our mid-month check in for Spooky Month 2024, we highlight some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, check in on the latest winner of the Nobel Prize for literature, and weigh in on the possible TV adaptation of RF Kuang's Yellowface!

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

  • Kingdom of Waves by Melissa de la Cruz
  • One Word, Six Letters by Adib Khorram
  • Never, Ever After by Sue Lynn Tan
  • Wild Song by Candy G...
October 11, 2024 49 mins

On this episode, we sit down with Chinese-Canadian author and cartoonist Teresa Wong to chat about her new graphic memoir, All Our Ordinary Stories: A Multigenerational Family Odyssey, an generation spanning recounting 100 years of her own family's history in China and Canada. Teresa shares how she became a author/illustrator of graphic novels, as well as what it was like sharing her family's stories with the world.

Follow Tere...

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October 4, 2024 56 mins

On this episode, we discuss our September 2024 pick, A Burning by Megha Majumdar, a social novel about a poor girl in Kolkata accused of a terrorist attack she wasn't involved in, and the aspiring actress and teacher who have the chance to clear her name but at the cost of their own social ascension. Join us as we dive into Megha's modern social novel which asks the question, who are the ones being burned in a society where an...

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September 27, 2024 55 mins

On this episode, we sit down with prolific writer Preeti Chhibber to talk about her new YA rom com novel, Payal Mehta's Romance Revenge Plot, about high school junior Payal Mehta and her ill-conceived plan to get back at her longtime crush for micro-aggressing against her by making him fall in love with her... for revenge of course, in the process enlisting the help of her academic nemesis who's prickly exterior may be hi...

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September 20, 2024 50 mins

On this episode, we welcome author Aurora Palit to talk about her debut novel, Sunshine and Spice, an adult romance story between two members of a conservative Bengali Canadian community who enter into a fake relationship to help solve each others cultural dilemmas out despite being complete opposites. We chat with Aurora about her writer's journey as well as the inspirations for her spicy debut.

Follow Aurora on Instagram...

September 13, 2024 35 mins

On our mid-month check in for September 2024, we highlight some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, get some updates on which authors of Asian descent who made it to the National Book Awards long-lists, and touch a little on the latest controversy with NaNoWriMo!

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

  • Flashlight by Susan Choi
  • Let It Be a Tale: Palestinian Journalists on Survival and Resistance edited b...
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September 6, 2024 56 mins

On this episode, we chat with author Randy Ribay about his latest novel, Everything We Never Had, a YA story about four generations of Filipino men, each grappling with their own unique relationships with identity, masculinity, and father-son relationships. We talk with Randy about his inspirations for the book, as well as his thoughts on its themes of breaking out of toxic cycles.

Follow Randy on Instagram at @RandyRibay ...

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Join us as we discuss our August 2024 book club pick, Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang. A story about a Chinese American chef who is stranded abroad when a global climate catastrophe hits and decimates the world's food supply, putting her chosen profession (as well as her own identity and livelihood) in jeopardy. The story follows her journey of self-discovery as she takes a job as a private chef for an elite research col...

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August 23, 2024 58 mins

On this episode, we chat with author Trinity Nguyen about her debut novel, A Banh Mi for Two, a sweet sapphic romance about a Vietnamese American exchange student and Vietnamese food blogger/street food vendor and their foodie adventures in Saigon. We chat with Trinity about the inspirations for her novel as well as what her favorite Vietnamese foods are!

Follow Trinity on Instagram at @thetrinitytran and check out her deb...

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August 16, 2024 37 mins

On our mid-month check in for July 2024, we recap some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, as well as get some updates on the latest Books & Boba pick to get picked up for TV and which books by Asian authors made it into the New York Time's best 100 books of the century!

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

  • Reasons We Break by Jesmeen Kaur Deo
  • Arctic Adventures: A Tundra Tale by Jyoti Rajan Gopal...
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We're taking the week off so our friends from They Call Us Bruce are helping fill in with their latest chat with author OiYan A. Poon, please enjoy!

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Jeff and Phil welcome writer and race scholar OiYan A. Poon, author of Asian American Is Not a Color: Conversations on Race, Affirmative Action and Family. She talks about breaking out of her comfort zone to write a sincere and heartfelt exploration of race relations and affirma...

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On this episode, we discuss our July 2024 book club pick The Sense of Wonder by Matthew Salesses, a contemporary Asian American novel following the story of Won Lee, the only Asian American player for an NBA team, and his rise to stardom during a period known as "The Wonder." Inspired on the real life Linsanity phenomenon, and the discourse surrounding it, we dive into Matthew's take on the Asian American experience (and K-dra...

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July 26, 2024 54 mins

On this episode, we chat with author Amber Chen about her debut novel, Of Jade and Dragons, a fantasy adventure and murder mystery set in a Silkpunk world, about a girl who loves engineering as she pretends to be her brother to infiltrate a prestigious academy in order to uncover the conspiracy that killed her father. We chat with Amber about her journey as a writer as well as the real life inspirations behind her debut.

Follow...

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July 19, 2024 33 mins

On our mid-month check in for July 2024, we recap some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, as well as get some updates on the latest Books & Boba pick to get picked up for TV and which books by Asian authors made it into the New York Time's best 100 books of the century!

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

  • Seen: The Story of Corky Lee and His Photographs of Asian America by Julie Leung
  • The Big J...
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July 12, 2024 54 mins

On this episode, we sit down with author K. X. Song to talk about her newest novel, The Night Ends with Fire, an epic adult fantasy inspired by the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Legend of Mulan, and Chinese folklore, following the adventures of a young woman, touched by the Azure Dragon, who enters the army as a man to escape her fate as a woman in a patriarchal society. We chat with K. X. about her journey to becoming a write...

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July 6, 2024 54 mins

On this episode, we welcome author Tara Sim to chat about her latest novel, We Shall Be Monsters, a YA dark Indian-inspired fantasy take on the Frankenstein story following a girl on a quest to resurrect her sister (who's accidental death she may also be responsible for) who gets drawn into a web of political intrigue by people who want her knowledge and powers. We chat with Tara about her journey as an author, as well as the inspi...

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On this episode, we discuss our June 2024 book club pick Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly, following the story of two adult siblings from Auckland as they each try to escape from their arrested development and overcome their messy professional and romantic issues, while also dealing with their chaotic but close knit Maori-Russian family. We had a lot of fun discussing this very funny story with a surprisingly sincere he...

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June 21, 2024 60 mins

On our mid-month check in for June 2024, we recap some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, as well as catch up on some awards news and check in on the latest book tea!

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

  • Chasing Sunspots by Victoria Ying
  • Mendell Station by J.B. Hwang
  • Rings of Fate by Melissa de la Cruz
  • Invitation Only by Alexandra Brown Chang
  • Rage Will Be Your Savior by K-Ming Chang
  • Exhausted Monsters ...
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