The Next Thing On My List: A Novel

Get a massage.
Eat ice cream in public.
Wear sexy shoes.
Take Mom and Grandma to see Wayne Newton.
Change someone's life.

After a car accident claims the life of her passenger, a woman she barely knows, June Parker is left with a heart full of guilt -- and one carefully written listed. Called "20 Things To Do Before I Turn 25," the list belongs to Marissa Jones -- a young woman whom June met at a Weight Watchers meeting and befriended not long before the crash. After losing 100 pounds, Marissa had just begun to fully experience life . . . and had quite a bit left to do.

And since she wouldn't be able to, June decided she would -- and all before Marissa's birthday.

Jill Smolinski's The Next Thing On My List isn't anywhere near the sobfest you show more would expect it to be, considering our narrator is completing tasks dreamed up by a dead woman. It's actually an incredibly entertaining, heartwarming and inspirational novel that had me flipping the pages from day one.

The strength of book, for me, came in the form of June and Smolinski's sense of humor, which was pitch-perfect. Any off-color jokes would certainly have not been well-received by the audience -- me -- but we never got that point. The Next Thing On My List struck the perfect balance between remembering Marissa and her life while still allowing the characters to grow and move on. When we could have easily become mired in a depressing tale, Smolinski's humorous and fast-paced writing kept us moving forward. I laughed out loud so many times in the book, dog-earing pages with quotes I wanted to remember.

Smolinski also did a great job of balancing June's personal life with what she does at work -- which is where most of us spend all our time, anyway. For once, June isn't a publicist or a magazine editor or a New York City fashion maven; she's a copywriter for an L.A.-based group which encourages carpooling as a way to cut down on traffic. I surely appreciated the change of pace and enjoyed reading about the world of advertising. June's coworkers were all very funny, fleshed-out folks, too. Nothing kills a novel faster for me than a dry, one-dimensional ensemble.

Fans of women's fiction will enjoy June's adventures and maybe shed a tear or two (I won't judge). And more than anything, what I took away from the novel was this: live your life to the fullest. Create lists. Fall in love. Get scared. Don't hide from your feelings. We get one shot, one opportunity, one moment to shape our own lives -- so jump in and take it. And since I'll be 25 myself in a few short months, you might just find my own list around here sometime soon! show less

This audiobook resonated with me as I have frequently done list projects during my adult life and found them very meaningful. The main character feels she hasn't made much of her life in her 34 years. When a car accident takes the life of her passenger, June takes the 20 things to do before I turn 25 list of the dead girl and takes on the remaining 18 items. The project turns out to transform June's life and the relationships she has with the other people in it.

** spoiler alert ** This is exactly the kind of book I enjoy - light, funny, real and with some deep-running undercurrents.
The realness of it all was probably the best part. So often in fiction everything happens just like the protagonist plans it, a couple of snags along the way but in the end all dreams come true. Here things do work out, but not quite how June thought she wanted them to, which in itself is so real. She wants to date the hot guy who appears to want to date her, but... as soon as she tells him about her plans to adopt a baby fire turns to ice and he's not so eager any more. A teenager pregnant after a one-night stand, a child preparing to have a child; she is so grown up in planning to quit her regular classes and show more thinking about the realities of having to take care of a baby but at the same time she gets thrilled at the prospect of make-up and new clothes. A thirty-something woman seething in her cubicle when she gets passed over for the promotion she was waiting for. A middle-aged woman hiding the pain of losing her daughter and the fears of not being able to mend the ties behind the tough facade of a biker. A couple who have been trying to have a baby for years and who must face that nothing is working, leaving them broken-hearted and exhausted. The guy who at first comes across as extremely obnoxious and even disgusting turns out to be a genuinely good person, even if rough around the edges. The best of it though for me was the last chapter, when June has finished someone else's list and is beginning her own, beginning her own life after years of going with the flow and not taking her life into her own hands. She's sitting there and she still doesn't know what to put on that list, what it is she wants. She's just like so many of those of us who are great at following instructions but not necessarily writing them, even for ourselves. And yet she's gotten a taste of what it's like to finish something and what it's like to keep trying regardless of how far this trying takes her out of the cocoon of her comfort zone so she writes something down and surprises even herself with what it is. She'll do it too, I know it.
There's plenty of laughs in this book. In fact I giggled through it, all the while thinking about these people who inspired June and Deedee and Bob and Troy and Marissa. They're out there, eating at restaurants, driving cars, making mistakes and trying new things. To me fiction is life, disguised as make-believe for the benefit of entertainment but it's all real, it all happened somewhere to someone to some degree. Even if the story is undeniably fantasy, there's real people in there underneath the blue skin and fur and antennae. Here Ms. Smolinski simply didn't go as far as antennae, she stopped at making them all real and you know when an author has done a good job when the next morning you're still thinking about the twists and turns and the outcome. I finished the book last night. Today mid-morning my text to a friend read "I still can't get over June and Martucci and that the girl didn't even call her to tell her she decided to not give up the baby!!". Enough said. show less

I read this book in less than 5 hours. I say this with certainty since I was on an airplane while I read it. The topics were both heavy and enjoyable. The characters were likable. The real victory of this novel is what the reader takes away from the reading. By the time I got to the end, I definitely felt like revising my own list! More importantly, I felt motivated to actually DO the things I've had on my list.
Definitely recommend this one, especially as a quick but meaningful read on a bus or plane trip.

This book is an insanely fast read, which is good since I read it from start to finish in one sitting. I didn't have any intention of reading this book when I did, but once I had picked it up to read the first sentence out of pure curiosity, I found myself staying up until 2am to find out what happened. The strange mix of sorrow, guilt, lighthearted humor, and hope was very appealing for a summer read.

June Parker, 32 years old, offered a ride to a woman in uncomfortable shoes at her Weight Watchers meeting. Unfortunately, June gets in a car accident which kills the 24 year-old Marissa. To honor Marissa's life, June comes to the decision that she must complete Marissa's list of "20 Things To Do Before My 25th Birthday." Items on the list show more range from "kiss a stranger" and "get a massage" to "change someone's life" and the most problematic one, "make Buddy Fitch pay."

This is a fast and lighthearted book that clearly wants the reader to think about life and what we do with it. There are lots of poignant moments that bring a tear to the eye, and several laugh-out-loud ones. The author plays with our expectations, but in the end delivers a resolution that feels like real change has been experienced. A fun and satisfying book that, while not the best I've ever read, nevertheless has the potential to make people examine their lives and maybe pursue some forgotten dreams. show less

June Parker works for a LA carpooling company with pretty much nothing else going on in her life. But then one Weight Watchers’s group meeting completely changes everything when she offers Marissa Jones a ride home. As Marissa unbuckles her seatbelt to reach into the backseat to pull out a taco soup recipe from her bag, June swerves to avoid a dresser falling off the back of a truck. Marissa is flung through the windscreen and dies. June finds a list that Marissa has written - 20 Things to Do Before my 25th Birthday and, out of guilt, decides to complete the list for her. There are 18 items left on the list and while some things are easy to accomplish, like going braless or going on a blind date, others tasks ranging from running a 5K show more to changing someone’s life and letting Buddy Fitch - whoever that is – pay, prove to be quite challenging. It’s a race against the clock to finish the list by what would have been Marissa’s 25th birthday. The book has a very appealing cover which made me want to read it immediately and it did not disappoint. It’s a perfect light summer read on the beach, on vacation. The main character June is funny and strong willed and you just want to cheer her on. The Things To Do on the list are varied and it inspires all readers I am sure to think about what should be on your own list. Definitely recommend this book, as it’s not only witty but delivers a message as well. For the record, skydiving is NOT on my list. show less

From the book jacket: 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.

My reactions:
It was about what I expected. I was not a big fan of the main character, June, who really seemed to have her priorities backwards. As she worked to complete Marissa’s list it really became all about HER, not about honoring Marissa. I also wasn’t much of a fan of most of show more June’s friends. And I really didn’t like how the relationship with a young girl she is supposedly mentoring played out.

Still, the plot moved forward and there were some situations that really captured my attention and kept me reading, as well as scenes that were quite entertaining. All told, it was fine, just not stellar. show less