Episode 106: Fail!
Welcome back to another episode of the Book Friends Forever podcast! Grace and Alvina discuss all the things they've failed at, and also some of the things they chosen to fail at in order to succeed at something else.
In May, the book friends podcast will host a very special guest author, Paula Yoo! Her new latest book is called From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial That Galvanized the Asian American Movement. It will be very exciting to hear from her! Hopefully you can read the book beforehand and tune in to this book discussion episode. It will be much like the episode #69 when Grace and Alvina talked to author Jason Reynolds about his book Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-Winning Stamped from the Beginning.
How have you been?
Alvina has been appreciating that her company gave everyone an extra day off recently. They are really good about making sure that employees are able to work on their work/life balance. Alvina and Grace recently gave a talk to NATWA discussing diversity issues and their experiences with the Taiwanese American community and the Asian American community.
Grace was contacted by one of the mom’s of another asian girl at Hazel’s school. Apparently that student had been subjected to some very anti-asian statements by other classmates. Hazel was not aware of those incidents but it was disturbing to have to deal with.
Fail!
Grace and Alvina talk about the times they have failed at something that they attempted to succeed at AND other times when they failed at something by choice but wish they could have been successful. The topic was sparked by a book Grace has been reading called, Finish by Jon Acuff. It’s been teaching her how to let go of some things that get in the way of accomplishing something else, such as keeping a clean house or trying to perfectly keep up with the online school program.
They discuss things they really tried hard at and failed. Do you even recall these failures? Sometimes we forget them like goldfish who only have a 10 second memory or Michael Jordan who has a good ability to stay in the moment. They discuss embarrassing imperfection, trying to obtain “inbox zero”, diets, and trying to live responsibly. In the end they conclude that of course, nobody can be perfect…you just do the best you can.
What are you obsessed with?
The book friends steal this fun question from Jennifer Laughran and her podcast: Literaticatcast.
Grace is currently obsessed with starting to run again and finding some beautiful running shoes that she loves! Alvina is obsessed with Tik Tok!
What are you grateful for?
Alvina is grateful for a break, some lazy days, the rainy weather, looking at Tik Tok, and reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.
Grace has been having some vaccination envy from those that are getting their shots. However, she is grateful for realizing that she does not need the vaccine in a hurry because she is young (ish), healthy, and low-risk thankfully!
A grateful from a Patreon member, Anne: “I’m Grateful for the book friends forever podcast. It’s cheesy I know, but I’m just so happy to find an informative and entertaining podcast that shares my love of children’s books and Asian-American culture.”
Thank you for tuning in! Thank you to Hachette Audio, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, and Alex at Pacyworks Studio. Be sure to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and tell a friend about us. (Use the hashtag #bookfriendsforever.)
You can find Alvina @Planetalvina on Twitter and @Alvinaling on Instagram
You can find Grace @Pacylin on Facebook and Instagram
*If you’re a patron, don’t forget to check out this week’s Random Questions feed! Grace Lin and Brandy Colbert answer: If you had to change your name, what would your new name be, and why would you choose that name? Click here to listen! If you’re not a patron already, join today!
