Everybody Reads 2019 celebrates the work of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie with the novel Americanah for adults and the essay We Should All Be Feminists for high school students.

A Nigerian-born artist whose influence spans continents and genres, Adichie has received acclaim as an author, poet, playwright and speaker. She was a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and her work has been recognized with the O. Henry Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award (fiction), among many other distinctions.

Her other novels include Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun. She also wrote the short story collection The Thing around Your Neck. We Should All Be Feminists was adapted from a widely viewed talk at TEDxEuston. Her most recent work is Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions.

About the books

Americanah

Ifemelu leaves her childhood sweetheart and a troubled Nigeria to attend university in the United States. Despite her success, she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black in America, and founds a blog born of her unique perspective. Navigating the tensions of culture and race, Ifemelu becomes homesick for Nigeria and her first love, Obinze. Americanah offers a frank assessment of how our societies both strengthen and fail us as we search for meaning.

Discussion guide and further reading for Americanah

We Should All Be Feminists

The author offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the 21st century, one rooted in inclusion and awareness. Drawing extensively on her own experiences and her deep understanding of the often-masked realities of sexual politics, she explores what it means to be a woman.

Discussion guide and further reading for We Should All Be Feminists

How to participate

Through a shared reading experience, we will discuss issues that matter, learn from each other and promote greater understanding.

Read.
Extra copies of Americanah will be available in January 2019 at all neighborhood libraries, and e-books will be downloadable from the library catalog, thanks to the generous support of The Library Foundation. The library encourages readers to share extra copies with friends, coworkers and neighbors.

For the first time ever, unlimited copies of the downloadable audiobook are available. No holds or waiting! Get it through the RB Digital app until March 31, 2019.

Discuss.
Beginning in January 2019, share your thoughts at a book discussion at your neighborhood library or bookstore.

Learn.
Enjoy one of the many free programs exploring the themes of Adichie’s work, from a talk on the neuroscience of bias to a musical celebration featuring Nigerian talking drum.

Be inspired.
Adichie will speak on Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 7:30 pm at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets are available from Literary Arts.
NOTE: The lecture is sold out. There are no tickets available.
Everybody Reads 2019, a community reading project of Multnomah County Library, is made possible in part by gifts to The Library Foundation with author appearance made possible by Literary Arts.