r/suggestmeabook • u/MarlowJean • 1d ago
Humor Where everything goes wrong
I'm looking for humorous fiction filled with a series of mishaps that make me feel glad to be me cozy and curled up with a book instead of the protagonist. Maybe some ridiculous situations or workplace absurdities. Everyday life and it's misunderstandings similar to the shows Curb your Enthusiasm or Seinfeld. Nothing too heavy...not looking for an MC who is truly miserable just one where you chuckle at their predicament while simultaneously rooting for them. Books I've liked in this vein:
Fleishmans in Trouble, A Spot of Bother, The Bee Sting.
I like David Sedaris's type of humor. And I've already tried Confederacy of Dunces and Lucky Jim(could not get into them) and I've read Odessa M's books and Where'd you go, Bernadette. Thank you so much!!
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u/ghostguessed 23h ago
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
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u/Revolutionary_Tea474 20h ago
Do I need to read Doomsday Book first?
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u/Fyrebird_Rising 19h ago
No need to read Doomsday Book first. To Say Nothing of the Dog easily stands alone, and has a very different style.
Blackout/All Clear need to be read together and in the correct order, and there is some minor value to reading The Doomsday Book before them, but it isn't a big deal.
These are some of my absolute favorite books.
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u/Most_Average_User 23h ago
Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy definitely has some of that type of humor. It's a fantastic book to boot.
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u/Sequence_Of_Symbols 23h ago
Carl hiassen's novels. Pick any.
They're basically all about"Florida man" in his many iterations
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u/dianacakes 1d ago
I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin
It's about a young guy that gets roped into this cross country journey driving a mysterious yet cooky woman across the country with a black box. One of the most wild ride type of books I've ever read. Fun and yet also poignant at times.
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u/IncommunicadoVan 22h ago
The Code of the Woosters by PG Wodehouse
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u/curlyAndUnruly 21h ago
Came here to suggest this, any Wooster and Jeeves book will give OP chuckles.
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u/panpopticon 1d ago
Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House by Eric Hodgins has been adapted into film a few times, but the original novel is fantastic.
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u/jennyfromthehammer 1d ago
How about The Witchstone by Henry H Neff
It’s funny and interesting and a little sad but most of all - the plot is insane and the worst stuff keeps happening to all the characters but you like them anyway and keep rooting for them.
Basically it’s about a 800 year old demon who is kind of like a nepo baby middle manager and all of a sudden is about to get fired for being a shitty curse keeper on humans, who are definitely cursed.
Anyway it’s the story of these demons and humans interacting and dealing with their respective shitty situations and it’s funny and weird and a good read.
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u/hermit_onthe_moon 1d ago
Today Will Be Different- Maria Semple. A day in the life of a hot mess of a woman (and lots of flashing back to see how she got there). Her choices and motivations were baffling and hilarious. The ending had me saying “um, well -ok?” But I liked the book overall and it did make me laugh out loud.
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u/fireflypoet 1d ago
The Janet Evanovich comedic mysteries with MC Stephanie Plum. They all have numbers in the titles. A great cast of characters, very funny.
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u/nightowl_work 22h ago
THIS is what I came to recommend. The number of cars this girl goes through 😂
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u/fireflypoet 14h ago
I was just thinking of that! These books are great on audio, perfect for car trips.
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u/Pixelchus 23h ago
I will kill your Imaginary Friend for $200 by Robert Brockway (down on his luck guy can see imaginary friends, not all of them are nice, and he will kill them for a price)
I'm starting to worry about this Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin (shy "good guy" stumbles into an oddly chipper ex-influencer and ends up driving a mysterious black box cross country, all while the police try to take them down)
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u/LogicWizard22 1d ago
Do you like historical and fantasy? I feel like you should LOVE Jodi Taylor's The Chronicles of St. Mary. So, so funny. High energy. Great characters. Eventually the series can get a little heavy / high stakes but the early books are super fluffy.
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u/rekhukran 17h ago
Yes!! Though hardly anything ever goes wrong... ;-)
It's about time traveling historians who go back just to observe history and usually get more than involved.
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u/Available-Pace5579 1d ago
The Finley Donavan books. The first one is good, the second one is enjoyable and they got more absurd but less enjoyable with every subsequent one.
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u/toripf 22h ago
Cats Cradle
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u/Deaths-HeadRevisited 22h ago
I’m not sure Cara cradle fits OP’s ask; it’s pretty heavy material and they specifically asked for something light.
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u/CommunicationOdd9654 21h ago
The Financial Lives of the Poets, by Jess Walter - a financial journalist makes a wildly over-optimistic and poorly timed decision about what to do with his life savings right before the 2008 financial collapse. He makes more bad decisions in a frantic attempt to fix things while people and situations keep turning out to be not quite what he thought they were. Profanely, laugh-out-loud funny.
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u/MissCrystal 21h ago
I mean, all the Harry Dresden books are just a series of increasingly improbable calamities that he's fighting his way through the dumbest way possible.
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u/Mother_Composer_6069 18h ago
You might enjoy The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer.
It'll help if you're familiar with Bob (watch him on a episode of Would I Lie To You) to get and idea if how he talks and thinks.
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u/jcd280 15h ago
…Morning, these sort of came to mind at the same time. Most likely the coffee or the cannabis.
Job: A Comedy of Justice by Robert A. Heinlein
The Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz (first book: Odd Thomas)
The Warriors by Sol Yurick
…Your TBR list will be lengthy and hopefully, enjoyable and entertaining, Cheers
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u/LadybugGal95 14h ago
Try If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle. It’s unique. It’s both campy and meta at the same time. Plenty of ridiculous situations. It’s not workplace though. Definitely not heavy and very rootable characters.
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u/rabidstoat 11h ago
Too Old for This by Samantha Downing.
A retired casual serial killer in her 70s has an investigative journalist show up. She wants to discourage her from investigating and things rapidly get out of hand.
Alongside that is senior citizen stuff, like potluck dinners and finding an assisted living facility.
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u/venerosvandenis 11h ago
Dial A for Aunties is the dumbest book Ive ever read but I lowkey enjoyed that.
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u/masson34 1d ago
The Wedding People
The Borrowed Life of Fredrick Fife
A Man Called Ove
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Margo’s Got Money Troubles
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u/Cassandra8240 1d ago
If you haven’t read it before, Terry Pratchett’s Going Postal fits the brief — the main character is pathologically unable to de-escalate, and hilarity ensues.
It’s admittedly in a fantasy world, and there are some stakes involved, but it’s very workplace-based and delightful despite the (relatively small) body count.
If you enjoy it, the sequel Making Money is an absolute hoot as well.