The Next Thing on My List

A Novel

By: Jill Smolinski

Narrated by: Staci Snell

Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

“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)

Meet June Parker. She works for L.A. Rideshare, adores her rent-stabilized apartment in Santa Monica, and struggles with losing a few pesky pounds. 

But June's life is about to change.

After a dark turn of events involving Weight Watchers, a chili recipe, and a car accident in which her passenger, Marissa, dies, June finds herself in possession of a list Marissa has written, "20 Things to Do By My 25th Birthday". Even though they barely knew each other, June is compelled by both guilt and a desire to set things right and finish the list for Marissa.

The tasks before her range from inspiring (Run a 5K), to daring (Go braless), to near-impossible (Change someone's life), and as June races to achieve each goal before the deadline, she learns more about her own life than she ever bargained for.

Funny, engaging, and heartwarming, The Next Thing on My List features a loveable, relatable heroine and a story with plenty of humor and heart.

©2008 Jill Smolinski (P)2008 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"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." (Booklist)

pleasantly surprised

I didn't expect to like this one as much as i did. It's not the traditional chick-lit, in that it has slightly sad undertone, but i think it's what made the main character more thoughtful and likable. It made her seem less....flighty/girly than the traditional chick-lit heroine. Plus, I enjoyed the narrator, which is key for a good audiobook.

WOW!! Great book!

This was one of the best reads to date for me. I was pleasantly pleased. I've never laughed out loud from a book... but I caught myself giggling on numerous occasions! I was so sad when it was over... I highly reccomend it!

What a great story/characters!

This was one of the first Audio Books i ever "read". I was totally enchanted with the story and the characters. The completion of the List was totally worth it.

Funny & heart grabbing

I loved this book. It was definitely an interesting read. I laughed and cried listening to this. Definitely makes you think about your own life and how thankful we should all be.

Cute sweet upbeat entertaining

What can I say the book was cute funny entertaining uplifting… I enjoyed it. It even made me look at my own life just a little bit. Definitely worth the time if not the credit which I guess it’s free right now so…

Touching with just enough humor!

Thanks Jill Smolinski for a good story. There were no gimmicks or constant "f" bombs, just likable characters that I could either relate to, or recognize from my own circle of family, friends and acquaintances. I've heard several weak audio books lately, that this one was a pleasant surprise!

Worth the read! Not spectacular.

I enjoyed this book. It was better than I expected, but less than what I hoped for. It's worth the read. It's somewhere between light and thoughtful. I recommend it, but it won't rock your socks off.

Great Book!

Really cute light reading. I downloaded this to listen to only while doing housework, and found myself looking forward to the housework!
Great narration, easy to distinguish between characters. Worth a listen!

One of the cutest listens to date

A must listen -- what a cute story, in a good way! Very heartwarming and interesting the whole way through -- I listen both while I run and while I'm commuting and I found myself looking for reasons to keep listening to this story. A great "quarter life crisis" story that speaks to all of us in our 20's and 30's about our pressing need to get our stuff together... then getting out of our own heads to think about other people and it all sorting itself out.

Yikes.

The story was "okay", but had some serious issues. The "List" had some really mundane things on it, such as "eating ice cream in public" and "going braless". Seriously? Maybe that's a big deal in small town Nebraska -- although I doubt that -- but, c'mon, this is set in LA. Also, the ending is a bit of a letdown, and required a huge coincidence...

The main character was boring, the supposed love interests were caricatures of men, and the very brief development of the people in the story wasn't enough to make you care about any of them.

But, the worst part of the audiobook was the narration. The narrator was so droll and unemotional, and had this really distracting manner of not including the "she saids (as in "blah, blah, blah", SHE SAID)" in her sentence inflection. Once you notice it, it's hard to not think "ugh" every time it happens. And, she had an annoying way of "ebonifying" the "bad girl characters". What's the message there?

The good news is, it's a completely mindless diversion. The bad news is, it's a completely mindless diversion.