#347 – Butter by Asako Yuzuki

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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

#346 – March 2026 Book News

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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:

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

#345 – Behind Frenemy Lines by Zen Cho

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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

#344 – February 2026 Book News

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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:

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

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

#343 – Author Chat w/ Lillian Li

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Happy New Year! We ring in the Year of the Horse with an exciting author chat with Lillian Li (author of past book club pick #1 Chinese Restaurant), who joins us to chat about her newest novel Bad Asians, a coming of age story following four childhood friends who all move home after graduating college in 2008 after their well laid plans were derailed by the great recession. They inadvertently become part of a viral Youtube documentary that will continue to haunt them throughout their adult lives as they drift apart and come back together again and again.

Follow Lillian on Instagram at @zillianzi and check out her new novel Bad Asians available now on the Books & Boba bookshop!

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

#342 – Author Chat w/ Yosha Gunasekera

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On this episode, we sit down with Yosha Gunasekera to chat about her debut novel, The Midnight Taxi. A murder mystery following a true crime loving Sri Lankan American cab driver who ends up accused of murder when a passenger ends up mysteriously murdered in her cab. Yosha shares with us her personal journey to writing her novel as well as how she drew from her experience as an attorney for The Innocence Project to construct her mystery.

Follow Yosha on Instagram at @yosha.gunasekera and check out her debut novel The Midnight Taxi available now on the Books & Boba bookshop!

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