Hey everyone! We’re back from our holiday break for our first podcast of 2026 and we’re finally discussing our December 2025 Book Club Pick Blackmail and Bibingka by Mia P. Manansala. A X’mas themed cozy mystery (but actually a story about family and Filipino noms). At this point, we’re kind of murder mystery connoisseurs so this was the perfect end of year treat for us. Fun fact, we did an author chat with the author back in 2021 for her first book so we’re excited to come back to this world for the holidays!
Books & Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authors
On our final mid-month book news episode in 2025, we review some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, and weigh in on some recent book tea for December 2025!
Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:
Light and Thread by Han Kang
When We Swallowed the Sea by Janet Hong
Limitlessly, Mina by Gianna Lakenauth
Take to the Sky by Christina Soontornvat
Not Again, Dragon Chen! by Amanda Adams; illust. Wazza Pink
Jin Young, In Between by Ellen Oh
Don’t Print This by Monica Chin
A Super Definitely True Story of the Great Animal Race by Dane Liu; illust. Aki
Foreigners by E.L. Shen
Books & Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authors
On this episode we discuss our November 2025 book club pick, Taiwan Travelogue by Shuang-zi Yang, translated by Lin King, a historical fiction novel (with a meta-fiction twist) about a Japanese travel writer invited to write about the imperial colony of Taiwan by the Japanese government in the 1930’s, and follows her budding relationship with her Taiwanese translator as they eat through the island while she pushes on the boundaries between colonizer and colonized.
Books & Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authors
On our second to last mid-month book news episode in 2025, we highlight some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, and catch up on the latest book news for November 2025!
Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:
Overrated by Gene Luen Yang & Jacob Perez
Ink & Blood: Poetry and Power in the Lives of Emperor Li Yu and Chairman Mao by Chun Yu; illust. Sungyoon Choi
The Peacock Throne by Zeba Shahnaz
Forest Freaks by Nat Iwata
Mei Mei the Bunny by Laufey; Illusy. Lauren O’Hara
Aunties by Pooja Makhijani; illust. Ruchi Mhasane
The Girl, the Village, and the Terrible Thunder by Aimee Yealim Lee; illust. Hyewon Yum
Jade vs. the Claw Machine by Margaret Chiu Greanias; illust. Heather Brockman Lee
Sun’s Eid by Natasha Khan Kazi
The Echo of Empires by Shameen Abubakar
untitled picture book biography of Katherine Sui-Fun Cheung by Cheryl Kim; illust. Nicole Wong.
Mongoose’s Holi Party by Darshana Khiani; illust. Abhilasha Khatri
The Gods Will Sing Our Song by Autumn Krause
Echoes Across the Water by Livia Blackburne
What’s for Iftar?! by Razeena Omar Gutta; illust. Esraa Hedery
Join us as we discuss our October 2025 book club pick, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker, a Chinese American horror story taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic following Cora Zeng, a crime scene cleaner haunted by the trauma of witnessing her sister’s murder in a NYC subway station, as well as what appears to be her sister’s actual hungry ghost. We follow Cora and her co-workers on a blood-soaked quest as they try to simultaneously figure out how to exorcise her ghost, as well as solve a series of serial murders in NYC, all involving East Asian women.
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 Yume Kitasei to chat about her latest novel, Saltcrop, a science fiction story about three sisters who grew up in a near future Earth after an ecological collapse changed the world. When the eldest sister goes missing while working for a megacorporation (because capitalism persists even after the end of the world), the younger two set off on a dangerous trip across the seas to find her.
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