#350 – April 2026 Book News

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:

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

#349 – Author Chat w/ Rachel Khong

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

#348 – Author Chat w/ Lisa Lee

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

#344 – February 2026 Book News

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

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

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