Books like 'The Optimists'
Readers who enjoyed The Optimists by Brian Platzer also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
literary-fiction urban coming-of-age humor
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All for Victory by Beverley Watts
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIf you’re looking for the perfect holiday read, with lots of romance and laugh out loudcomedy, then curl up with the latest entry in the Dartmouth Diaries...It’s not often that a fledgling career in Event Management kicks off with the wedding of a Hollywood superstar... -
![Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan]()
Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsYou're six years old. Mum's in hospital. Dad says she's 'done something stupid'. She finds it hard to be happy.So you start to make a list of everything that's brilliant about the world. Everything that's worth living for.1. Ice Cream2. Kung Fu Movies3. Burning Things4. Laughing so hard you shoot milk out your nose5. Construction cranes6. MeYou leave it on her pillow... -
![Picnic, Lightning by Billy Collins]()
Picnic, Lightning by Billy Collins
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWinner of the 1999 Paterson Poetry Prize Over the past decade, Billy Collins has emerged as the most beloved American poet since Robert Frost, garnering critical acclaim and broad popular appeal. Annie Proulx admits, "I have never before felt possessive about a poet, but I am fiercely glad that Billy Collins is ours... -
![The Beginning by Ed Nelson]()
The Beginning by Ed Nelson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Richard Jackson SagaBook 1: The Beginning Handsome young Rick is on a cross country trip, hitchhiking from a small Ohio town to California. Along the way, there is a bank robbery, bull riding in the rodeo, a western movie, and rustlers among other events. With humor, we follow a young man's coming of age in the late 1950s... -
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![Love, Lies and Obsessions by Demettrea]()
Love, Lies and Obsessions by Demettrea
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMia is a gorgeous 24 year old Puerto Rican bomb shell with a crucial problem. She is in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend Raymone. Tired of being forced to deal with his baby mama drama and sidechicks, Mia finally decides that enough is enough! She decides to move on and turns to Harlem, who has always been there for her. However, Raymone won’t make it easy... -
![Easter on Lovelace Lane by Alice Ross]()
Easter on Lovelace Lane by Alice Ross
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Dillon Delaney’s life might be far from perfect, but it’s one he’s grown accustomed to. Which is why, when his mother announces her ‘most fabulous idea’ of dispatching him to Lovelace Lane to stay with a grandad he barely knows, he has more than a few reservations... -
![Stolen by You by Lindsey Hart]()
Stolen by You by Lindsey Hart
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsInfiltrating Mr. Hotshot's house in the middle of the night?Yes, that was the plan.Getting my hands on his family jewels?Definitely what I was going for.And I mean actual jewelry, not the other round ball kind of things, alright.Now, catching the guy practically naked in his house?Oh God, definitely not what was supposed to happen... -
![Los nombres propios by Marta Jiménez Serrano]()
Los nombres propios by Marta Jiménez Serrano
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratings¿Quién es Belaundia Fu? Es la mejor amiga de Marta a los siete años: la amiga invisible que, en esos momentos en que las cosas no salen como había planeado y ni siquiera la abuela es capaz de consolarla, se sienta con ella y espera hasta que se le pase... -
![The Dishwasher by Stéphane Larue]()
The Dishwasher by Stéphane Larue
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt’s winter in Montreal, 2002, when a graphic design student’s gambling addiction starts to drag him under... -
![Sifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way by Charles Bukowski]()
Sifting Through the Madness for the Word, the Line, the Way by Charles Bukowski
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsfrom neither Shakespeare nor Mickey Spillane young young young, only wanting the Word, going mad in the streets and in the bars, brutal fights, broken glass, crazy women screaming in your cheap room, you a familiar guest at the drunk tank, North Avenue 21, Lincoln Heights sifting through the madness for the Word, the line the way, hoping for a check from somewhere, dreaming of a letter... -
![This Won't Take But a Minute, Honey by Steve Almond]()
This Won't Take But a Minute, Honey by Steve Almond
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThis innovative, self-published book comprises 30 short short stories, and 30 brief essays on the psychology and practice of writing... -
![Luck of the Draw by Anna Black]()
Luck of the Draw by Anna Black
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFriends come and go, but the good ones are hard to let go. Kennedy and her best friend Cherae were like "two peas in a pod," Kennedy's daddy would say because they were tighter than a large man in a medium suit jacket. Although they were totally different in size, personality and back ground, they had been friends and loved each other since the seecond grade... -
![Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe]()
Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“An audacious, wildly funny, completely unpredictable novel by a writer so singular that it’s hard to compare her to anyone else . . . absolutely brilliant...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction coming-of-age urban fiction contemporary womens-fiction female-mc -
![Bossy Grump Next Door by Ava Nichols]()
Bossy Grump Next Door by Ava Nichols
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsI slept with the HOT grump next door… then learned he’s my new boss. Simon Chaucer is a handsome, arrogant, Billionaire CEO playboy, who’s also my cousin’s grumpy neighbor.While I’m house sitting for my cousin, Simon’s noisy home renovation disturbs my sleep.So, I show up at his house and give him a piece of my mind... -
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![Palinuro of Mexico by Fernando del Paso]()
Palinuro of Mexico by Fernando del Paso
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLike those writers to whom he has been compared--Fuentes, Garcia Marquez, James Joyce, and Rabelais--del Paso draws upon myth, science, and world literature to expand his particular story to universal proportions... -
![The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue]()
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhere would I start, and how would it even make sense? How could you understand the year in Shandon Street unless you were there, with us, living it?Rachel Murray is twenty-one years old, platonically infatuated with her housemate James, and less-than-platonically infatuated with her enigmatic, married English professor Dr Byrne... -
![After Tonight, Everything Will Be Different by Adam Gnade]()
After Tonight, Everything Will Be Different by Adam Gnade
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFalling somewhere between Trainspotting and Like Water for Chocolate, Adam Gnade’s self-described “food novel” frames each chapter around a meal, and from there moves wild in all directions. After Tonight, Everything Will Be Different takes place in San Diego taco shops and rundown beach apartments, on the amusement park boardwalk at 3am and in cars bound for Tijuana and drunken glory...Categorized as:
urban coming-of-age literary-fiction north-america usa california fiction contemporary -
![On Herring Cove Road: Mr. Rosen and His 43Lb Anxiety by Michael Kroft]()
On Herring Cove Road: Mr. Rosen and His 43Lb Anxiety by Michael Kroft
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOnce an amusing extrovert with a reputation as a prankster, Mr. Rosen is entering his retirement years as a stoic thirty-year converted introvert who has no interest in people, despises change, and is more than content to have his wife navigate his life... -
![Cómplices by Taibo]()
Cómplices by Taibo
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJulián ha luchado contra el aburrimiento de todas las maneras posibles. Desde que le diagnosticaron hepatitis, ha recreado en su cabeza conversaciones imaginarias entre ostras que no tienen nada que hacer, ha buscado formas fantasiosas en las manchas de la pared, ha lanzado mocos al aire. Pero es feliz porque no tiene que ir a la escuela... -
![Cult of Loretta by Kevin Maloney]()
Cult of Loretta by Kevin Maloney
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“Kevin Maloney alchemizes the allure of dicey friendships, hallucinatory sex and a drug so terrifying I’m heartbroken I’ll never get to try it. Cult of Loretta captures the manic fury of Richard Brautigan writing a sequel to The Outsiders during a ketamine binge... -
![Protecting the Babysitter: A Billionaire Alpha Male Romance by Nikki Bloom]()
Protecting the Babysitter: A Billionaire Alpha Male Romance by Nikki Bloom
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFingers laced in my hair, he pulled my head down to command my mouth. The kiss was so dominating and searing, I melted against him. The babysitter and the billionaire... Sounds like an unlikely pair, doesn’t it? It sounds more like a fairy tale than anything else―a fairytale I was tempted to go along with. Look, I was only hired to babysit; nothing more. But Mr... -
![Claiming Her V-Card by Lindsey Hart]()
Claiming Her V-Card by Lindsey Hart
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhy the hell did I ask my boss to pop my cherry!? Somebody do me a favor, kill me right here, right now, because it seems like my nerdy brain with an IQ of 140 must have short-circuited briefly while I was all alone with him in his office. And truth be told, everyone knew just how “skilled” he was … in and outside the bedroom (if you know what I mean). His other name is Mr... -
![Von hier betrachtet sieht das scheiße aus by Max Osswald]()
Von hier betrachtet sieht das scheiße aus by Max Osswald
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBen Schneider ist erst 29, hat aber schon genug vom Leben im Hamsterrad: aufstehen, arbeiten, Sorgen machen, sterben. Seinen Job bei einer Wirtschaftsprüfungskanzlei hasst er mindestens so sehr wie seinen Vorgesetzten. Der Kontakt zu seiner Familie ist größtenteils abgerissen, für die Liebe oder Freunde hat er schon lange keine Zeit mehr...Categorized as:
humor coming-of-age literary-fiction fiction male-mc contemporary mental-illness thriller -
![In Revere, In Those Days by Roland Merullo]()
In Revere, In Those Days by Roland Merullo
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn this richly evocative novel--the moving story of one boy's coming of age--acclaimed author Roland Merullo will make you nostalgic for a small Massachusetts city called Revere even if you've never been there. Providing a window into an unspoiled America of forty years ago, In Revere welcomes you to the fiercely loyal and devoted Italian-American family of the Benedettos... -
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![Abbott Awaits: A Novel by Chris Bachelder]()
Abbott Awaits: A Novel by Chris Bachelder
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA quiet tour de force, Abbott Awaits transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, startlingly depicting the intense and poignant challenges of a vulnerable, imaginative father as he lives his everyday American existence... -
![The Sky, the Stars, the Wilderness by Rick Bass]()
The Sky, the Stars, the Wilderness by Rick Bass
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGQ called the three short novels in this collection "wondrous." A woman returns to live on her family's west Texas ranch . . . a man tracks his wife through a winter wilderness . . . an ancient ocean buried in the foothills of the Appalachians becomes a battleground for a young wildcat oilman and his aging mentor. Here is Bass at his magical, passionate, and lyrical best... -
![Rontel by Sam Pink]()
Rontel by Sam Pink
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom the author of 'person' and 'the ice cream man and other stories.' Follow our narrator as he attempts to make it to the end of a journey most magical... -
![The Wrong Boy by Willy Russell]()
The Wrong Boy by Willy Russell
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe hilarious, bittersweet novel from the playwright behind EDUCATING RITA, SHIRLEY VALENTINE and award-winning musical BLOOD BROTHERS.Dear Morrissey,I'm feeling dead depressed and down. Like a streetlamp without a bulb or a goose at the onset of Christmas time.Anyroad, I thought I'd pen a few lines to someone who'd understand...It's 1991...Categorized as:
coming-of-age humor literary-fiction action-adventure audiobook book contemporary fiction -
![Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? by Johan Harstad]()
Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? by Johan Harstad
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA pop-saturated epic novel about the second man on the moon, and the quiet thirty-year-old gardener who idolizes him. A story of unconventional psychiatry, the Faroe Islands, amateur boat building, and the journey across the space that divides us from other people: a journey as remote and dangerous as the trip to the moon itself... -
![The Temptation to Be Happy by Lorenzo Marone, Shaun Whiteside]()
The Temptation to Be Happy by Lorenzo Marone, Shaun Whiteside
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCesare is a seventy-seven-year-old widower and cynical troublemaker, a man who has always struggled to care for others and has given up trying. Aside from an intermittent fling with a nurse called Rossana, he avoids contact with his neighbours and even his own children. One day, the enigmatic Emma moves into the neighbouring flat with her strange and sinister husband... -
![The Answer Is No: A Short Story by Fredrik Backman]()
The Answer Is No: A Short Story by Fredrik Backman
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn a hilarious short story from New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman, the absurdities of modern life cause one man’s solitary world to spin suddenly, and comically, out of control.Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much... -
![The No Hellos Diet by Sam Pink]()
The No Hellos Diet by Sam Pink
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"The thought of calling off work is like the thought of suicide, just nice to think about."In The No Hellos Diet, Sam Pink brings you straight into a world you've never been to before -- your own life. Find yourself working at a department store where everyone must wear red and khaki clothing. Find yourself throwing out garbage for fifty cents more than minimum wage... -
![Zane: Real Gangsters Never Die by Talena Tillman]()
Zane: Real Gangsters Never Die by Talena Tillman
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Santiago family makes a triumphant return, with Zane Santiago at the helm. What happens when a new war emerges during his reign over the underworld? While tradition dictates that true gangsters move in silence, Zane’s bold and unapologetic approach sets him apart. Brace yourself for a gripping, action-packed tale in this captivating spin-off from “ A Gangster’s Love Story... -
![The Ice at the Bottom of the World: Stories by Mark Richard]()
The Ice at the Bottom of the World: Stories by Mark Richard
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn these ten stories, Mark Richard, winner of the 1990 PEN/Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award, emerges as the heir apparent to Mark Twain, Flannery O'Connor, and William Faulkner... -
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![Promise Broken by K'wan]()
Promise Broken by K'wan
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBeware of the company you keep.K'wan's urban fiction coming-of-age novel, Promise Broken, is set in the gritty streets of Newark, New Jersey. The story follows seventeen-year-old Promise Mohammed as she attempts to uphold friendships and new relationships--even if they lead to her demise... -
![Grumpy Billionaire Playboy by Ava Nichols]()
Grumpy Billionaire Playboy by Ava Nichols
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMy brother’s best friend is my worst enemy… Now, he’s also my fake fiancé who just took my v-card.Drake Bennet is a handsome, arrogant, Real Estate shark who always has women throwing themselves at him.But I can’t stand him; we’ve always fought and bickered growing up.His mom has been badgering him to settle down, so he asked me to be his fake fiance... -
![Along the Path of Torment by Chandler Morrison]()
Along the Path of Torment by Chandler Morrison
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTy Seward is a sick man. Anorexic, sexually aberrant, and haunted by a ghostly apparition residing in his closet. Living in the shadow of an in-remission cancer he fully expects to return, Ty bitterly earns his meager living by working as an assistant to his uncle, a business-and-media mogul who runs a lucrative child prostitution ring catering to the Hollywood elite... -
![A Matter of Time by Alex Capus]()
A Matter of Time by Alex Capus
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"Beautifully rendered in John Brownjohn's translation . . . [a] magnificent novel."—Giles Foden, author of The Last King of Scotland"A war-torn farce worth waiting for."—The IndependentNovember 1913 and three German shipbuilders, led by master shipwright Anton Rüter, are ordered by Kaiser Wilhelm to dismantle a steam ship, send the parts to German East Africa, and reassemble it on Lake Tanganyika... -
![No Ordinary Guy (No Ordinary Bloke) by Mary Whitney]()
No Ordinary Guy (No Ordinary Bloke) by Mary Whitney
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsI’m not a philosophical kind of bloke, but I know something about luck. A childhood on the wrong side of advantage will teach you that. It’s all a matter of chance. It’s both your circumstances and the chances you take. So I've always been a gambler and a ladies man — they love me and I love them. Now I've found one like no other — an American, Allison Wright... -
![Time, for a Change by Adam Eccles]()
Time, for a Change by Adam Eccles
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCan a mysterious wooden box help an IT project manager with his dead-end life? Terry Ward is a lonely, sarcastic, and utterly burnt-out IT project manager. He’s in a dead-end rut with his job and his life. Sound familiar? Time for a change. When clearing out his late-father’s workshop in the wild west of Co. Clare, Ireland, he finds a box full of mysteries... -
![Regina Is NOT a Little Dinosaur by Andrea Zuill]()
Regina Is NOT a Little Dinosaur by Andrea Zuill
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMeet a young dinosaur seeking her independence in this hilarious picture book from the author of WOLF CAMP and SWEETY.When Regina's mother heads off to hunt, she tells her little stay in the nest and be mama's good little carnivore... -
![The Franchiser by Stanley Elkin, William H. Gass]()
The Franchiser by Stanley Elkin, William H. Gass
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBen Flesh is one of the men "who made America look like America, who made America famous." He collects franchises, traveling from state to state, acquiring the brand-name establishments that shape the American landscape. But both the nation and Ben are running out of energy... -
![¡Espérame en Siberia, vida mía! by Enrique Jardiel Poncela]()
¡Espérame en Siberia, vida mía! by Enrique Jardiel Poncela
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratings"¡Esperame en SIberia, vida mia!" es una "novela de aventuras" con viajes desesperados, de huida permanente, sembrados de sobresaltos. Tambien es una novela de amor, aunque con menor grado de erotismo que las anteriores... -
![Supersaurio by Meryem El Mehdati]()
Supersaurio by Meryem El Mehdati
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn uproarious debut novel about a young woman from the Canary Islands whose internship with a supermarket chain reveals the soul-crushing vagaries of modern life.Meryem is twenty-five years old, drinks too much coffee, goes on dates with terrifying men and never says what she really thinks... -
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![I Stink! by Kate McMullan]()
I Stink! by Kate McMullan
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA big city garbage truck makes its nighttime rounds, consuming everything from apple cores and banana peels to leftover ziti with zucchini... -
![The Orange Mocha-chip Frappuccino Years by Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, Paul Howard]()
The Orange Mocha-chip Frappuccino Years by Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, Paul Howard
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSo there I was, roysh, enjoying college life, college birds and, like, a major amount of socialising. Then, roysh, the old pair decide to mess everything up for me. And we're talking totally here. Don't ask me what they were thinking. I hadn't, like, changed or treated them any differently, but the next thing I know, roysh, I'm out on the streets... -
![PS, I Scored the Bridesmaids by Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, Paul Howard]()
PS, I Scored the Bridesmaids by Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, Paul Howard
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSo there I was, roysh, twenty-three years of age, still, like, gorgeous and rich, living off my legend as a schools rugby player, scoring the birds, being the man, when all of a sudden, roysh, life becomes a total mare... -
![Dogwood Blues: Southern Fiction Damp from the Alapaha River by Brenda Sutton Rose]()
Dogwood Blues: Southern Fiction Damp from the Alapaha River by Brenda Sutton Rose
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDOGWOOD BLUES is a work of sassy southern fiction with a lyrical and seductive narrative. Filled with humor and drama, heartbreak and love, DOGWOOD BLUES depicts life in a small town near the Alapaha River, a place struggling with change... -
![Fall Higher by Dean Young]()
Fall Higher by Dean Young
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDean Young surmounts the failures of love and the body with his signature humor, verbal banter, and wild imaginative leaps. Embracing the elegiac, angry, and amorous with surrealistic wordplay and off-kilter music, Young coaxes us to "fall higher" into an intimate, vulnerable, expansive exchange. This is a major new book by one of America's most inventive poets... -
![Out of the Girls' Room and Into the Night: Stories by Thisbe Nissen]()
Out of the Girls' Room and Into the Night: Stories by Thisbe Nissen
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratings“These stories abound in a rich life, holding sad, awkward, edgy contemporaneity in their generous embrace. They do not soothe or forgive or reassure; they love the creature as it is. There is great originality and great freedom in Thisbe Nissen's approach to her subject, a kind of classicism in her lucid and compassionate interest in the ways of this present world...
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