On this episode we chat with author E. L. Shen about her YA coming-of-age novel The Queens of New York, which just had its paperback release. We chat with E. L. about the inspirations for her story about three best friends finding themselves over a summer apart, and dive deep into one of her plot points revolving around a surprisingly modern musical with racist themes.

Follow E. L. Shen on Instagram at @elshenwrites and check out her novel The Queens of New York, available now on the Books & Boba bookshop!

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

On this episode we sit down with author Samira Ahmed about her newest novel This Book Won’t Burn, a YA coming-of-age story about a girl who moves to a small town in the middle of her senior year and finds herself embroiled in her town’s politics as she finds out that hundreds of books in her school’s libraries have been marked for book bans. We chat with Samira about her own experiences taking on book bans across the country as well as her thoughts on the importance of reading diversely.

Follow Samira on Instagram at @sam_aye_ahm and check out her novel This Book Won’t Burn, available now on the Books & Boba bookshop!

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

On this episode we discuss our April 2024 book club pick, Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, which follows the story of struggling writer June Hayward who finally finds the publishing success she’s always dreamed of… after taking the unfinished transcript of her recently deceased writing bestie, the way more successful Athena Liu, and passing it off as her own. We dive into this provocative novel that explores how far some people are willing to go to be anointed in a system that’s rigged from the start.

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

It’s a Marvin only episode for this month’s book news check-in, let’s see how it goes as he reviews some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, as well as some new and potentially exciting adaptation news.

Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:

• Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen
• Sisters at Sea by Yume Kitasei
• This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki; illust by Nicole Goux
• Alice Chen’s Reality Check by Kara Loo & Jennifer Young
• Dreamt I Found You by Jimin Han
• The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
• Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim
• The Serpent Called Mercy by Roanne Lau
• A Dark and Narrow House by Usman T. Malik
• Ten Incarnations of Rebellion by Vaishnavi Patel
• The Ex-Boyfriends Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee by Saki Kawashiro
• The Blanket Cats by Kiyoshi Shigematsu
• Leverage by Amran Gowani
• The Art of Love by Kristi Hong
• When Sleeping Women Wake by Emma Pei Yin
• The Satisfaction Café by Kathy Wang

News stories covered on this episode:

• Festival of AAPI Books – May 5, 2024
• The Sympathizer on HBO
• Crazy Rich Asians to become a musical

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

On this author chat, we sit down with Sheila Sundar about her debut novel Habitations, a decades-spanning story of identity, immigration, expectation and desire, and of love lost and found, exploring the stories of immigrant scholars, and what it means to make a home. Sheila shares with us her journey to becoming a novelist, as well as the inspirations behind the themes of her novel.

Follow Sheila on Twitter at @sundarsheila and check out her novel Habitations, available now on the Books & Boba bookshop!

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