Books Like My Year of Rest and Relaxation | My Picks and How They're Similar

Disclaimer: Included in this list of books like My Year of Rest and Relaxation are links to their Amazon listings in case you’d like to purchase. I’m an Amazon affiliate and earn a small percentage from qualifying purchases. As with all books on my blog, please check parental guidelines and trigger warnings before reading.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation really had me.

I don’t know about you, but after finishing it I wanted more. Which is why I went and put together a list of books like My Year of Rest and Relaxation (see my analysis of the book here) and how they’re similar. Here are my picks.

Apartment by Teddy Wayne

Apartment by Teddy Wayne is pretty much the male version of My Year of Rest and Relaxation. We follow two roommates’ complicated relationship, just as we are brought into the main character and Reva’s strained friendship in MYORAR. Other similarities: Apartment also features an unnamed main character, and get this, all four of these characters are only children! If you need any more similarities, both books are set in the 90s/early 2000s in NYC. Read my review of Apartment here.

See Apartment on Amazon.

The New Me by Halle Butler

Millie is 30, alone and very angry in The New Me by Halle Bulter. Nothing seems to be working out for her, not work, love or anything else.

The writing draws you in and keeps you reading, perfect because just like MYORAR, it’s a ‘no plot, just vibes’ kinda book. Both are darkly funny, and dive headfirst into the dissatisfaction and detachment our protagonists have with their lives and selves.

Like Ottessa, Halle is unafraid to let the female rage blaze.

The New Me on Amazon.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar is often recommended to My Year of Rest and Relaxation fans and I can see why.

Both books’ main characters are young, depressed women who could care less, and just so happen to be smart and privileged. Both follow the womens’ descent.

Esther Greenwood is the kind of college student that is constantly surprised to find herself where she is, as though she’s being dragged from high-end internship to party to back home to psychiatrist’s office. Technically she has a bright future ahead of her, if she can make it to the next day, that is. Like our main character in MYORAR, she’s almost robot-like as she moves through her life.

The Bell Jar on Amazon.

Acts of Desperation

Like MYORAR, this book features another unnamed main character. Acts of Desperation told the story of a woman who has her heart set on a guy for better or for worse. And it did get worse. A lot worse. This simple premise kept me reading and feeling deeply.

What’s similar to MYORAR is the main character’s simultaneous self-destructiveness and self-awareness.

The books also share a straightforwardness, though Acts of Desperation had more of it. If you like books that cut to the chase, you’ll like this one!

Acts of Desperation on Amazon.

Pizza Girl

Pizza Girl gives us a messy main character who’s lost in life. Sound familiar?

She’s 18, pregnant (with mixed feeling about it), in a strained relationship and works as a pizza delivery girl. Like our girl in MYORAR, she’s looking for an escape. Pizza girl finds it in one of the repeat customers, MYORAR’s main finds it in sleep

Pizza Girl on Amazon.

Gone Girl

In Gone Girl, Amy feels terribly wronged by her husband, Nick. She disappears and sets the stage for her perceived murder to be pinned on him. Nice, right?

The similarity between MYORAR and Gone Girl that stood out to me the most? How our main characters feel complete freedom to do what they want. They just don’t care.

Gone Girl on Amazon.

Nothing Special

In Nothing Special 17 year old Mae drops out of high school and finds a typing job in Andy Warhol’s studio (it’s the 60s). Similar to our main in MYORAR, she is drained. The difference is here she’s able to pour what little’s left of her life force into the job.

Two more similarities: they’re both ‘no plot, just vibes’ kind of books and both dig into weird friendship dynamics. See my review for Nothing Special here.

Nothing Special on Amazon.