Book Review!: How To Be a Woman

When I read this article on Slate about Caitlin Moran's How To Be a Woman, I was stoked.  Here are a few reasons why:
1. The article described it as a memoir-slash-manifesto.  (I love memoirs.  I'm ... curious ... about manifestos.)
2.  It spent nearly a year on the top 10 list in England.  (A book about feminism... in the top 10... for a year???)
3.  The picture made Caitlin Moran look cool and funny.  (Spoiler alert: she is both.)

I loved this read.  It's fast and fun and doesn't feel at all preach-y.  Moran blends memoir that moves chronologically through her childhood to young adulthood to parenthood and, before you notice it, she's transitioned along the way into essay mode, and -boom!- we're in feminist/what-it-mean-to-be-a-woman-today territory. 

What's great about this book is that it's funny and entertaining as a book on its own, but it really gets at issues that matter to women (or, really, people) today without telling you what to do or think.  For example, one chapter is called "You Should Have Children" and talks about how motherhood makes you a stronger, more fearless woman who can get so much done and love deeply.  And the very next chapter is called "You Shouldn't Have Children" and explores how child rearing and motherhood sets women back and isn't a choice that should be a default for most women.  (Personally, I though it was great that our generation's new Feminist Manifesto was written by a funny, sassy, attractive, mother-of-two wife.  Not what I always think of when I think of a voice for feminism.)

Check it out and buy it for your best friend.