The Next Thing on My List: A Novel [Paperback]

Jill Smolinski (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 25, 2008

“You’ll be hooked by this charming story. . . . Smolinski gives us a quick-witted heroine . . . with just the right amount of romance and a tad of suspense.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch

After a car accident in which her passenger, Marissa, dies, June Parker finds herself in possession of a list Marissa has written: “20 Things to Do by My 25th Birthday.” The tasks range from inspiring (run a 5K) to daring (go braless) to near-impossible (change someone’s life).

To assuage her guilt, June races to achieve each goal herself before the deadline, learning more about her own life than she ever bargained for.

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 an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; Reprint edition (March 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307351297
• ISBN-13: 978-0307351296
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,594 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jill Smolinski is author of the novels Objects of My Affection, The Next Thing on My List and Flip-Flopped. She lives in Los Angeles, and loves calling or Skyping into book clubs to discuss her books. Visit her at JillSmolinski.com for more information or to request a book club call-in.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful

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

By Sandra Ramos O'Briant

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Great plot that fails to deliver November 19, 2008

By Heather

Format:Paperback

June Parker is a girl trying to find herself. She is in her thirties, single, works as a writer for LA Rideshare and has a limited social life. This is pretty much the extint that we get to know June through the entire book. Actually almost all the characters in this book are under-developed, leaving the reader longing for something more. The exception being Marissa, who is dead before the book even begins.
Completing a life list, especially one written by someone else, makes for an interesting plot. And the list in this book is rather interesting. I found myself wishing the list was a little longer or more challenging but all in all it did contain a fairly good mix. The list contains the potential for a hilarious book mixed with some emotional serious moments.
Unfortunately that is not what comes about. You do get a small chuckle or two but no uncontrollable laughter from reading this novel. And the serious moments lack emotion. The methods in which June goes about completing this list are fairly dull and unrealistic. Everything seemed to fall together without enough action to engage the reader.
There are some unpredictable moments in the second half of the book that keep it from flopping altogether, but nothing so spectacular that will have me recommending or even remembering this book. Overall I feel this book did a decent job of setting up the reader but then continued to just let the reader fall.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

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

By CoffeeGurl HALL OF FAME

Format: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!