On our latest author chat, we sit down with Ryan Lee Wong to chat about his debut novel Which Side Are You On? A story about a young Asian American man, struggling to live up to his ideals as an activist in today’s world, who finds inspiration and frustration through conversations with his mother, who has a history in activism herself, as they drive around Los Angeles. We chat with Ryan about his real life inspirations for the story, his thoughts on activism, and why LA has the best Korean food in the country.

Follow Ryan on instagram at @ryanlwong and check out her novel Which Side Are You On? on sale now!

*Support the podcast by purchasing books at our bookshop *

On this episode, we highlight the latest book and publishing news in Asian American literature for our October 2022 mid-month check-in, including checking in on some bookstore drama and unionizing in the publishing world.

New books and authors mentioned in our publishing news:

• Homeseeking by Karissa Chen
• Red by Cherry Zong
• Prodigy by Cyrena Lee; illust by Julia Kuo
• The Magic Lunch Box by Hanna Kim; illust by Emily Paik
• My Mama Is a Work of Art by Hana Acabado
• The Healers of Harlem: The Lost History of the Black Women Medical Pioneers in America’s First Desegregated City Hospital by Nina Chhita
• The Red Car to Hollywood by Jennie Liu
• The Shadow and the Ghost by Cat Min
• Divining the Leaves by Shveta Thakrar
• Letters for My Brown Self by Sarah Mughal Rana
• Leo’s First Vote by Christina Soontornvat; illust by Isabel Roxas
• Mami King by Jacqueline Chio-Lauri; illust Kristin Sorra
• Once Upon a Sari by Zenia Wadhwani; illust by Avani Dwivedi
• Chinese Menu by Grace Lin
• Little Night Says Goodnight by Grace Lin
• Born Naughty: My Childhood in China by Jin Wang, with Tony Johnston; illust by Anisi Baigude
• Welcome, Pink! by Laan Cham
• The Red Roti written by Namita Moolani Mehra; illust by Beena Mistry
• Scroll of Heaven by Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee
• The Rainbow Bangles by Thushanthi Ponweera; illust by Maithili Joshi
• The Rock in My Throat by Kao Kalia Yang; illust by Jiemei Lin
• Making a Scene by Constance Wu
• Everyone Hates Kelsie Miller by Meredith Ireland
• If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang

*Support the podcast by purchasing books at our bookshop *

On this episode, we chat with author Lygia Day Peñaflor about her debut latest novel Creep: A Love Story, a story about a girl who might be too big a fan of her high school’s “it” couple. We chat with Lygia about her inspirations for the story and what it was like to get into the head of an extreme stan.

Follow Lygia on instagram at @lygiaday and check out her novel Creep: A Love Story on sale now!

*Support the podcast by purchasing books at our bookshop *

On this episode, we discuss our Books & Boba September 2022 pick, You’re Invited by Amanda Jayatissa, a twisty thriller about Amaya, a woman who returns to her hometown for the first time in years to stop the wedding between her ex-best friend and her ex-boyfriend. To do so, she need to re-enter the cutthroat Sri-Lankan high society that she thought she had left behind forever. But is everything really how it seems? Or is there something dark festering underneath this perfect wedding that Amaya is willing to go as far as it takes to stop it?

On this episode, we welcome bestselling author Judy I. Lin to chat about her debut duology A Magic Steeped in Poison and A Venom Dark and Sweet, an Asian-inspired fantasy series about magical tea, imperial court intrigue, and a young woman’s quest for redemption. We chat with Judy about her inspirations behind the story, as well as her series’ whirlwind publishing schedule. 

Follow Judy on instagram at @judyilinauthor and check out her novels A Magic Steeped in Poison and A Venom Dark and Sweet on sale now!

On this episode, we highlight the latest book and publishing news in Asian American literature for our September 2022 mid-month check-in, this month we also check out some recent book awards updates and have a chat about the sad recent trends of book bans.

New books and authors mentioned in our publishing news:

• Song of the Six Realms by Judy Lin
  Good Fortune by C.K. Chau
  Covenant series by LySandra Vuong
  Oxherd Boy by Regina Linke
  My Father, the Panda Killer by Jamie Jo Hoang
  Toto by Hyewon Yum
  A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic by Yi Shun Lai
  The Spirit Mirror by Roshani Chokshi
  A Drop of Venom by Sajni Patel
  The No-Shoes Home by Helena Ku Rhee; illust by Myo Yim
  I Drew a Heart by Gillian Sze
  Perfect by Waka T. Brown; illust by Yuko Jones
  Ganesha Goes Green by Lakshmi Thamizhmani; illust by Debasmita Dasgupta
  A Sky That Sings by Anita Sanchez & George Steele; illust by Emily Mendoza
  Goodnight Zodiac Animals by Jiemei Lin
  Postcards from Malcolm X: How Yuri Kochiyama Became a Civil Rights Activist by Mia Wenjen; illust by Keith Henry Brown
  Together on Eid by Sana Rafi; illust by Mariam Quraishi
  When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar
  The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories by Jamil Jan Kochai
  All This Could be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews
  As She Appears by Shelley Wong
  The Rupture Tense by Jenny Xie
  A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee
  Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee
  All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
  Seasons of Purgatory Shahriar Mandanipour
  Scattered All Over the Earth by Yoko Tawada
  Ibn Arabi’s Small Death by Mohammed Hasan Alwan