#333 - Author Chat w/ Yume Kitasei

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. Follow Yume on Instagram at @yumewrites and check out her newest novel Saltcrop available now on the Books & Boba bookshop!Books & Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authorsSupport the Books & Boba Podcast by:Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perksPurchasing books at our bookshopRocking our Books & Boba merchFollow our hosts:Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)Follow us:InstagramTwitterGoodreadsFacebookThe Books & Boba October 2025 pick is Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee BakerThis podcast is part of Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective

For our mid-month book news check in for October 2025, we're catching up on the Asian American publishing news for the past 2 months (since we didn't do a mid-month episode in September) as well as checking in on the news about the latest National Book Award nominations as well as some exciting new listings on the NYT bestsellers list!Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:The Radiance by Ayad AkhtarThe Museum of Modern Love by Mariko TurkSir Silly by Gavin Aung ThanEmily Min-ji Makes Kimchi by Meredith Seung Mee Buse; illust. Jenn KocsmierskyThe River of Caregiving by Jocelyn Chung; illust. Sarah GonzalesOf Wind and Dust by Shirin Yim LeosProject Juni by Kaitlyn San MiguelMedusa's Pet Rock by Steph Lau&nbsp;Chrysanthemum's Glow written by Livia Blackburne; illust. Julia Kuo&nbsp;Fishbone Cinderella by Elizabeth Lim&nbsp;The Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham&nbsp;Born by Sarah LingThe Fallen Sun by C.M. Basma&nbsp;Swimming Lessons for a Mermaid by YongchanWho the Flan Am I? by Kiera Wright-Ruiz and Claudia LamThe Missing Magic of Sparrow Xia by Leia HamBear Wakes Up by Lisa ChowFrankie Lu's Summer of No Regrets by Betty ChangI Shall Master This Family by Kim Roah, Mon, and ANTStudioBook news mentioned on this episode:2025 Finalists for the National Book AwardsAlchemised by SenLinYu debuted at #1 on the New York Time’s Hardcover Fiction list on October 12thBooks &amp; Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authorsSupport the Books &amp; Boba Podcast by:Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perksPurchasing books at our bookshopRocking our Books &amp; Boba merchFollow our hosts:Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)Follow us:InstagramTwitterGoodreadsFacebookThe Books &amp; Boba October 2025 pick is&nbsp;<a...

On this episode, we are joined by Jade Chang, the author of our August 2025 book club pick The Wangs Vs the World, to chat about her newest novel,&nbsp;What a Time to be Alive, which follows a messy Chinese American girl named Lola Treasure Gold who inadvertently finds internet fame when a tongue in cheek speech she makes at a party honoring her recently deceased best friend goes viral, turning her into an internet self-help influencer. Follow Jade on Instagram at&nbsp;@hellojadechang&nbsp;and check out her newest novel&nbsp;What a Time to be Alive available now on the&nbsp;Books &amp; Boba bookshop!Books &amp; Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authorsSupport the Books &amp; Boba Podcast by:Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perksPurchasing books at our bookshopRocking our Books &amp; Boba merchFollow our hosts:Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)Follow us:InstagramTwitterGoodreadsFacebookThe Books &amp; Boba October 2025 pick is&nbsp;Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng&nbsp;by Kylie Lee BakerThis podcast is part of&nbsp;Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective

On this episode, we discuss our September 2025 book club pick, A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping&nbsp;by Sangu Mandanna, a cozy magical story about Sera, who used to be the most powerful witch in the UK until losing all her power casting a forbidden spell to bring her beloved great aunt back from the dead. Now 15 years later, she runs a magical inn in the English countryside after being expelled from magical society, and we follow her adventures when a chance to regain her lost power emerges.Books &amp; Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authorsSupport the Books &amp; Boba Podcast by:Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perksPurchasing books at our bookshopRocking our Books &amp; Boba merchFollow our hosts:Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)Follow us:InstagramTwitterGoodreadsFacebookThe Books &amp; Boba October 2025 pick is Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee BakerThis podcast is part of&nbsp;Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective

On this episode, we are joined by best selling author Dustin Thao to chat about his newest novel, You've Found Oliver, the follow up to his bittersweet debut You've Reached Sam. Dustin shares with us how a real life glitch in the matrix inspired the supernatural setting of his latest romance as well as his thoughts on time, grief, and magic.Follow Dustin on Instagram at&nbsp;@thedustinthao and check out his newest novel&nbsp;You've Found Oliver available 9/30 on the&nbsp;Books &amp; Boba bookshop!Books &amp; Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authorsSupport the Books &amp; Boba Podcast by:Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perksPurchasing books at our bookshopRocking our Books &amp; Boba merchFollow our hosts:Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)Follow us:InstagramTwitterGoodreadsFacebookThe Books &amp; Boba September 2025 pick is&nbsp;A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping&nbsp;by Sangu MandannaThis podcast is part of&nbsp;Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective

On this episode, we are joined from all the way on the other side of the world by Emma Pei Yin to chat about her debut novel&nbsp;When Sleeping Women Wake, a historical fiction novel about three women who each find their individual paths to resistance during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during world war 2. Emma shares with how she was inspired to write the story after hearing about her grandfather's experiences as a resistance fighter in WW2 as well as how surprisingly difficult it was to find research about life under occupation from the Chinese perspective.Follow Emma on Instagram at @emmapeiyin and check out her debut novel&nbsp;When Sleeping Women Wake available now on the&nbsp;Books &amp; Boba bookshop!Books &amp; Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authorsSupport the Books &amp; Boba Podcast by:Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perksPurchasing books at our bookshopRocking our Books &amp; Boba merchFollow our hosts:Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)Follow us:InstagramTwitterGoodreadsFacebookThe Books &amp; Boba September 2025 pick is&nbsp;A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping&nbsp;by Sangu MandannaThis podcast is part of&nbsp;Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective

On this episode, we chat with author Amran Gowani about his debut novel&nbsp;Leverage, a financial thriller about a rising star hedge fund analyst who is forced to dive into the seedy underbelly of the financial system when he loses his firm $300 million in a day and has to make everything back in 3 months or face some dire consequences. Amran chats with us about the themes of his novel as well as shares his inspirations for the story as a former Wall Street analyst!cw: discussion of themes involving suicidal ideation from 37:46 to 41:51Follow Amran's writing at www.amrangowani.com and check out his debut novel&nbsp;Leverage available now on the&nbsp;Books &amp; Boba bookshop!Books &amp; Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authorsSupport the Books &amp; Boba Podcast by:Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perksPurchasing books at our bookshopRocking our Books &amp; Boba merchFollow our hosts:Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)Follow us:InstagramTwitterGoodreadsFacebookThe Books &amp; Boba September 2025 pick is&nbsp;A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping&nbsp;by Sangu MandannaThis podcast is part of&nbsp;Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective

On this episode we discuss our August 2025&nbsp;book club pick The Wangs Vs. The World&nbsp;by Jade Chang, about the (formerly) affluent Wang family who embark on a road trip from from LA to NY after losing everything during the 2008 financial crisis. This is a book that is almost as old as our podcast and has been on our TBR for a long time so we're excited to dive in!TW: One of the storylines involve a character who's fascination with suicidal ideation is discussed at 1:05:10, if this is a sensitive topic for you, you can bypass this section by skipping ahead to 1:11:03Books &amp; Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authorsSupport the Books &amp; Boba Podcast by:Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perksPurchasing books at our bookshopRocking our Books &amp; Boba merchFollow our hosts:Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)Follow us:InstagramTwitterGoodreadsFacebookThe Books &amp; Boba September 2025 pick is&nbsp;A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu MandannaThis podcast is part of&nbsp;Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective

On this episode, we sit down with author Benedict Nguyễn to chat about her debut novel&nbsp;Hot Girls with Balls, a romantic sports satire about two Asian American trans athletes at the top of their game as stars of the international men’s pro indoor volleyball league (who also happen to be girlfriends)! Follow Benedict on Instagram at&nbsp;@xbennyboo and check out her debut novel&nbsp;Hot Girls with Balls available now on the&nbsp;Books &amp; Boba bookshop!Books &amp; Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authorsSupport the Books &amp; Boba Podcast by:Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perksPurchasing books at our bookshopRocking our Books &amp; Boba merchFollow our hosts:Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)Follow us:InstagramTwitterGoodreadsFacebookThe Books &amp; Boba August 2025&nbsp;The Wangs Vs. The World&nbsp;by Jade ChangThis podcast is part of&nbsp;Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective

Reera is off on family business so it's a solo Marvin mid-month check in this week. On this short but sweet episode, Marvin highlights some of the latest publishing announcements for books by Asian and Asian American authors so that you can have even more books to keep an eye on for your TBR lists!Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:SLASHER SUMMER By E.L. ChenAMBROSIA By Katrina KwanMADDER LAKE By Katie WuTIGER'S MOUTH By Lucy TanEVERYTHING TO THE SEA By Alicia UpanoDUST By Theresa HottelAMERICAN HAN By Lisa LeeSHE WAITS WHERE SHADOWS GATHER By Michelle TangTHE FIDGET BOOTH By Abigail Hing Wen; illust by Maple LamBooks &amp; Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authorsSupport the Books &amp; Boba Podcast by:Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perksPurchasing books at our bookshopRocking our Books &amp; Boba merchFollow our hosts:Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)Follow us:InstagramTwitterGoodreadsFacebookThe Books &amp; Boba August 2025&nbsp;The Wangs Vs. The World&nbsp;by Jade ChangThis podcast is part of&nbsp;Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective