The Shelf Life: Champaca Bookstore Blog
Team Champaca’s recommendations, on our second birthday
Team Champaca’s recommendations, on our second birthday
On our second birthday, our team looks back at the last two unpredictable, whirlwind years in the best way we know how: through the books we discovered along the way. 
January Recommendations: Looking Back, Looking Forward
January Recommendations: Looking Back, Looking Forward
At the cusp of 2020, we found ourselves taking stock of the year that has gone by, and making hopeful plans — and reading goals — for the new one. 
Book Review – Octavia Butler’s Parable Series
Book Review – Octavia Butler’s Parable Series
This little note about Octavia Butler’s Parable Series was written by Kavya Murthy in May 2020, when things around the lockdown were very pressing. 
Book Review — Patrik Svensson’s “The Gospel of the Eels”
Book Review — Patrik Svensson’s “The Gospel of the Eels”
This month, Nirica Srinivasan reviews Patrik Svensson’s The Gospel of the Eels, a unique natural science memoir. 
October Recommendations — Horror, Crime & Mystery
October Recommendations — Horror, Crime & Mystery
This October, but we were inspired to put together some spooky recommendations for you.
Exploding Mangoes & Hiring Milkshakes: Recommended Reads for Designers & Makers by Jay Dutta
Exploding Mangoes & Hiring Milkshakes: Recommended Reads for Designers & Makers by Jay Dutta
This month, we're featuring recommendations by Jay Dutta, the Founder/Curator of DesignUp. Here, he lists recommendations for designers — but really, they're recommendations for everyone! 
September Recommendations — Cats!
September Recommendations — Cats!
This month, we’ve put together recommendations for cat-lovers, across poetry, graphic novels, science, and fiction. 
August Recommendations — Feminism
August Recommendations — Feminism
We’ve put together a collection of feminist writing that explore the intersection of feminism with race, caste, and class. In this list are memoirs, ethnography, biography and poetry. 
Book Review — Carolina De Robertis' “Cantoras”
Book Review — Carolina De Robertis' “Cantoras”
This month, Nirica Srinivasan reviews Carolina De Robertis' Cantoras, a novel about resistance, love, and the power of the sea. 
July Recommendations — Race & Immigration
July Recommendations — Race & Immigration
This month, we’ve compiled recommendations that speak to the experience of racism and the insider-outsider paradigm, that talk of immigration and race in many of its forms.
Book Review — Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “The Water Dancer”
Book Review — Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “The Water Dancer”
This month, Kavya Murthy reviews Ta-Nehisi Coates’ The Water Dancer. 
Books for Now — “A Word with You, World,” by Siddalingaiah
In our second Books for Now session, we spent time with the autobiography of Dalit poet Siddalingiah Ooru Keri in its English translation, A Word with You, World.  Kavya Murthy recaps the event.