A short essay on feminism, adapted from Adichie's TED talk on the same subject. I haven't seen the talk, so I can't say how they compare, but I've heard it's very popular and I can see why. This isn't academic prose; there's nothing complex about the language used. It's plain speaking and enormously relatable because of it. The examples used are all taken from the author's own life and as such - even though she's from a different culture than I am - they all feel, again, relatable. Simple examples, simple prose, and it hammers over and over the idea of fairness, of treating people on the basis of their interests and abilities rather than their gender.

It also seems a little obvious. A lot obvious, frankly. I can't say that I'm any great feminist scholar, but these are not new ideas Adichie is talking about, not even remotely. Yet looking at a lot of the other Goodreads reviews, there are lots of people saying this is the most convincing argument for feminism they've ever seen. And I want to say Have you been living under a rock? Still, if this approachable, likable essay is getting people previously unsympathetic to the idea of feminism to engage with it, that's a wonderful thing.