As soon as I heard the concept of Jill Smolinski's The Next Thing on my List, I was hooked:
June Parker's life is plodding along nicely (or so she thinks) when she has a car accident on the way home from a Weight Watchers meeting (she just has one or two pounds to shift, you see). Her passenger, Marissa, who she barely knows, tragically dies, and June finds in her possessions a list, entitled “20 Things to Do By My 25th Birthday.”
Full of guilt over her Marissa's death, June decides to take on the challenge of completing the list in her memory...
But it's not easy: some of the things on the list are pretty challenging "Change someone's life", for example. Others, like "make Buddy Fitch pay" are simply puzzling - who is this mysterious Fitch man, and what does he need to pay for, exactly? And how?!
Still, June is committed to her task, and with just a few months to go before Marissa's birthday, she speeds into action to finish the 18 items on the list that Marissa didn't get round to - finding her own life is totally transformed in the process.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was a fun, entertaining read with some depth to it, too. And its message, that we should all dare to do the things we want to do (but are scared of) before its too late may not be a new one, but it's presented in a throughly readable, endearing way. I recommend you read it!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Like this? Try Twenty Times a Lady by Karyn Bosnak.
