Author Emiko Jean returns to the podcast to talk about her latest novel, MIKA IN REAL LIFE, a story about directionless 30-something Mika, and what happens when she gets contacted by the daughter she gave up for adoption 16 years ago. We chat with Emiko about her inspirations for the novel, as well as catch up with what she’s been up to over the past year.
On this episode, we discuss our July 2022 pick is Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, a japanese novel about a Tokyo cafe where you can order a coffee that lets you go back in time, but only until your coffee gets cold. Join us as we discuss the book’s four stories about confronting regret and grief through time travel, as well as our thoughts on how the book portrays its female characters.
On this episode, author Lio Min joins us to chat about their debut novel Beating Heart Baby, a coming-of-age romance about the bonds formed from internet friendship, watching anime, and playing music. Lio shares about their journey going from being a music journalist to a published novelist, and yes, we talk a bunch about anime as well.
On this episode, we highlight the latest book and publishing news in Asian American literature for our July 2022 mid-month check-in, and Marvin learns a little about Book-tok.
New books and authors mentioned in our publishing news:
You Are Here: Connecting Flights by Traci Chee, Mike Chen, Meredith Ireland, Mike Jung, Erin Entrada Kelly, Minh Lê, Grace Lin, Ellen Oh, Linda Sue Park, Randy Ribay, Christina Soontornvat, and Susan Tan
On this episode, we discuss our June 2022 pick is Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, an award-winning coming-of-age story about Lily, a teenage Chinese-American girl exploring her sexuality in 1950’s San Francisco Chinatown. It’s a book that explores the intersectionality of identity for queer children of immigrants during a time when who and how you love were explicitly illegal and misunderstood, as well as what it was like to be a part of the Chinese diaspora in the middle of McCarthyism.
On this episode, we highlight the latest book and publishing news in Asian American literature for our June 2022 mid-month check-in, and maybe get a little heated about what a certain white dude said on the internet.
New books and authors mentioned in our publishing news:
Aisha Saeed – Forty Words for Love
Axie Oh – The Floating World
Maia & Alex Shibutani – Amazing: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Inspire Us All
Books & Boba 