#14 Read a book by an author with an upcoming event (virtual or in person) and then attend the event.

I have a confession. This will come as a shock to no one, but I don’t always enjoy leaving my house particularly when leaving my house involves being surrounded by strangers. I have to be nice to strangers as part of my day job so my stranger-tolerance-meter is running low most days.

You may be thinking, “doesn’t the challenge state that you can do a virtual event instead?” You would be correct, but that also involves adding an event to a calendar and not having the litany of other responsibilities that spring up at a moment’s notice to prevent you from keeping your plans. Between my husband and I, we work 5 jobs which does not leave us with a lot of free time.

All of this to say that actually going to an event, whether virtual or in person, can be difficult. So I saw a great alternative suggestion online. Someone suggested reading a book from a movie or TV show and then going to that event- aka watching the movie or the show it is based on. Bonus points if its the actual premiere.

All of that to say that for this challenge, I changed my mind and decided to read Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder. The movie comes out on Friday.

Now, I read a lot of weird books: a chicken encyclopedia, a woman that falls in love with and marries a lizard alien, and a book on how aliens are actually behind everything in human history. That is just to name a few. This is definitely one of the weirder books that I have read.

The premise of this story is a young woman who is losing herself in her role of stay-at-home mom. Once a vibrant and successful artist, she struggles to recognize herself in the life she now leads. She loves her son and her husband, but it is all incredibly tiring and overwhelming.

It becomes even more tiring and overwhelming when she starts to think she’s losing her mind. And possibly turning into a dog who may or may not be eating the neighborhood animals.

One thing that is really interesting about the book is the focus on the characters’ roles and how that affects how they see themselves. The main character is “the mother”. Her child is “the son”, and her husband is “the husband”. This is a really effective way to show how the main character no longer feels like an individual person. Each person is trapped in the expectations of their respective roles.

Although completely bonkers, it does provoke a lot of thought about motherhood, womanhood, and feminist rage. It is also very funny. If you enjoy dark humor and stories that straddle the line between realism and fantasy, then this is definitely a book that you will enjoy.