The Next Thing on My List: A Novel (Paperback)

by Jill Smolinski (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Smolinski follows up her debut, Flip-Flopped, with an airy, hit and mostly miss novel about one rudderless woman's accidental journey of self-discovery. After a Weight Watchers meeting, narrator June Parker offers a ride home to newly svelte Marissa Jones, and the two hit it off until Marissa dies in a nasty one-car accident. When June runs into Marissa's hot brother at the cemetery six months after the crash, she makes a rash promise to carry out the dead girl's list of 20 things to do before she turned 25 (even though June is 34). The challenges that follow—running a 5K, kissing a stranger, "dare to go braless"—serve less to improve June's life than to highlight how unfortunate it is that she's taken up a stranger's goals instead of her own. Smolinski's Los Angeles is a well-executed set—June tilts at windmills as a writer for a ride-sharing nonprofit—but the most human characters in it are June's tyrannical and calculating boss and her secretly sensitive, underused brother. Though completing the list is a transformative experience for June, the leadup fizzles.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
June Parker's life is meandering along until a freak car accident leaves Marissa, her 24-year-old passenger, dead and June wracked with guilt. June discovers a list Marissa had been keeping of 25 things she wanted to do by the time she turned 25. After a run-in with Marissa's brother, June resolves to complete the list. Kissing a total stranger and throwing away her scale prove far easier than pitching an idea at work or changing someone's life. But June approaches the list with aplomb, daring to speak up about being passed over for a manager position, and becoming a Big Sister to a quiet, studious Latina teen named DeeDee. But when June uncovers a secret of DeeDee's, she realizes changing someone else's life might involve changing her own as well. Clever and winning, Smolinski's novel will have readers rooting for June as they eagerly turn the pages to keep up with her progress on the list. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (March 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307351297
• ISBN-13: 978-0307351296
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #20,480 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully funny and enjoyable read!, May 4, 2007

By	CoffeeGurl (MA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Next Thing on My List: A Novel (Hardcover)

The author sent me a copy of her book and I was delighted to read it because I had read and enjoyed her novel called Flip-Flopped. The Next Thing on My List is a wonderful, witty and enjoyable novel about a woman who's on a mission to finish up someone else's to-do list. June Parker is an L.A.-based, thirty-something-year-old writer having some rather mundane problems with her career and personal life. One day, she suffers a car accident, killing her passenger, Marissa, a young woman she'd just met at a Weight Watchers meeting and was giving a lift home. June finds a list the woman had made that involved making some things happen before her twenty-fifth birthday. Out of guilt and out of obligation after talking to Marissa's brother, June decides to complete Marissa's list, with some hilarious and at times poignant results.

This is the perfect light read to take with you on the beach or on vacation this summer. It'll keep you entertained from beginning to end. The witty dialogue and the heroine's internal monologue are delightful to read. June is a great heroine. I don't know why, but I pictured Debra Messing playing June as I read this. (Messing would be a great option if they ever make this novel into a movie.) The secondary characters are also great. I especially liked June's boss. I very much enjoyed The Next Thing on My List. It is your typical chick-lit, and one you'll enjoy a great deal if you're a big fan of this genre, which I happen to be. I highly recommend this fun summer read!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A funny and engaging tale about self-discovery, April 11, 2007

By	Reader Views "www.readerviews.com" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Next Thing on My List: A Novel (Hardcover)

Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (3/07)

I think readers will agree with me that "The Next Thing on My List" is a wonderfully written heartwarming story about a woman's self-discovery that will have you hooked from the very first page. Jill Smolinski knows and understands her audience and delivers a winner with her second novel.

The story centers around a 34-year-old woman, June Parker, who is living aimlessly and without passion. Her life completely changes when she attends a weight watchers meeting and offers one of the other members, Marissa a ride home. Marissa is upbeat and celebrating her 100-lb weight loss. As she is reaching into the back seat to get June her favorite taco soup recipe, the truck in front of them suddenly loses a dresser off the back. To avoid a collision with the dresser, June swerves and flips the car over. June is banged up, but okay. Marissa is not so lucky; she does not survive the car crash. After the accident, June finds a list with 20 things on it that Marissa wanted to accomplish before her 25th birthday. Only two items are crossed off - lose 100 lbs, and wear sexy shoes. June finds purpose in her life as she works on completing the other 18 items in Marissa's honor. The list includes simple things like kiss a stranger and eat ice cream in public, to more complicated items like change someone's life and pitch an idea at work.

As June works on accomplishing the tasks, she finds that her life has new purpose and meaning. She realizes that she wants more from her work as a writer for a not-for-profit and works toward a promotion. Her relationships with friends and co-workers evolve as they develop a new respect for her as she completes the list. She also takes on the role of a Big Sister to Deedee who desperately needs her help through a crisis and begins to form a bond with Marissa's sexy brother Troy.

The author develops the characters in a very human way that will make you fall in love with them and cheer June's progress as she works towards completing her list. Woman and teenage girls would enjoy reading "The Next Thing on My List."

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Books into Movies, April 16, 2007

By	S. O'Briant "Books On My Bed" (California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Next Thing on My List: A Novel (Hardcover)

I read in The Hollywood Reporter that the producer who made The Devil Wears Prada was going to make The Next Thing On My List into a movie, so I had to read the book. The story is truly inspirational, and I challenge you to finish it without starting a list to change your life. The great thing about the story is that it is heartwarming without being sappy, and the heroine, June Parker, sounds real, like a co-worker or a friend. She's just trying to make her way in the world like we all are. Jill Smolinski's writing is smooth and funny, and you're rooting for June all the way to a satisfying end. Some of tasks on her list may seem simple, like not wearing a bra, but don't we all know someone who has struggled with that one (or should have?). I started my own life list, and I think you will, too.