perfect short cozy christmas read

fun and easy, with a touch ridiculously thrown in.


okay so if you want an actual realistic christmas story? this ain’t it.
if you want something that is a bit of silly fun and doesn’t have sad or too dramatic moments to make it melancholic? go for it!

this book is clearly poking fun and pointing out the stupid things about christmas and how over the top some people can get with it and how that shouldn’t be what the holidays should be about.


this book certainly pointing out all the stressful and stupid moments of christmas but still filled with the clear love and enjoyment for christmas anyways.

what i loved about this book is that while this book is about skipping christmas it also mentioned more then twice that they would continue to support their charities and those things shouldn’t be only about christmas and the need to either show off or feel obligated because of the holidays to give.

but rather that giving and helping is something that should happen throughout the year and that there are more then one way to help others, especially outside of the christmas time.


it think a lot of the times so many people get sucked into this christmas/holiday vortex of having to do things because it’s tradition that they forget that not everything has to always be the same each year and that you can be giving any other time of the year too.


the book has differences to the well known movie - the book isn’t as over the top with its comedic moments and more realistic in some reactions where people understand not wanting to partake in the stress that comes along with the holidays.

the characters and their behavior in the book are more real life and in the movie more of a comedic behavior -so depending on what you enjoy and want… either and/or both? decide for yourself.


i personally enjoy this book and my now clearly traditional reread of it every year. it’s a fun and light read. it doesn’t have over the top drama that isn’t funny or can be seen as just being ridiculous in a fun way and i prefer that to other holiday stories that sometimes either go darkly dramatic or sad.
give me a bit of fun for christmas!


that all being said it’s mostly a silly bit of fun and little quick read that i do highly recommend and think is a very fun holiday read.

A refreshing,light and breezy read.A couple plans to skip Christmas,save money and go on a cruise.Good fun,and thankfully does not go on for 400 plus pages,like his other books.

All the way back in the summer of 2004, my mom and I were seeing some movie in the theater; I believe it was The Terminal, but I'm not 100% sure. We arrived earlier than usual, so, they had some advertisements for other flicks, one of which was an upcoming holiday comedy called Christmas with the Kranks. The promotional material we saw--or, actually, she saw more of it than I did; I only saw a small part of it because I made a restroom trip before the feature presentation started--mentioned that it was based on John Grisham's Skipping Christmas. The title was likely changed to avoid confusion with Surviving Christmas, a film allegedly so dreadful that it should never have been made. Soon after we saw that ad for Christmas with the Kranks, my mom borrowed the audiobook of Skipping Christmas from the library, and had a field day with it; she said it was hilarious because of how deadpan the narrator was. That Black Friday, my mom, my grandmother, and I saw it in theaters...and I enjoyed it. We got the DVD the next Christmas season, and have watched it more than once since; in fact, it was the first film that I popped into my Blu-Ray home theater system that I got as a gift from my parents one Yule.

Despite seeing the film multiple times in various formats and even hearing parts of the audiobook version, I had never read the book...until now. While the print and celluloid versions differ in some ways, I still like both of them. The original Grisham work had occasional profanities and suggestive references--that is, more so than the flick did--that were unnecessary, but, it was still a fun story. Fans of the Allen/Curtis movie versions should seek out the book, either in print or audio format; you'll be glad you did!

This is one of my most favorite books... ever. I read this novel before I watched the movie and being a John Grisham fan I was expecting something very different - but was not disappointed in the least bit. This novel had me laughing so hard and so consistently. This is a must read for anyone who loves to laugh, trust me, it does not disappoint. :)

Disappointment.

Reading through reviews, I found a common theme in the negative ones which focused too much on the neighborhood pressure of Kranks skipping Christmas and I thought that this is a Christmas story and usually Christmas stories have exaggerated plot points to deliver a message.

I managed to be right, but it still disappointed me in the end. The Kranks live in a neighborhood that is close-knit, despite at least half of them are talking behind each other backs (and admittedly, they only like people that share similar beliefs. Not a Christian? BYE~ But not the point of the book, so let us proceed), and as such, they are used to a certain routine of things throughout a year. Christmas is part of that routine. Everyone has a set number of things they do and when Kranks deviate for the first time from that, there is reaction. Mind you, not huge. Everyone is just weirded out and you have the occasional emotional manipulation or just pure manipulation to keep things a certain way.

I was perfectly ok with that. I never felt they were being forced, yet it makes sense that if you stray from something you are not used to, you feel the eyes on you all the time even when they are not. And I LOVED how they fought each time against that feeling of remorse and doing something wrong.

They wanted a change.

They wanted to try something new.

They wanted to do something for themselves.

And it was working fine... until... the last few pages. This is going to be spoiler territory, so I'm sorry for that. Blair, their daughter calls, last minute (literally last hour) to tell her parents she's at the airport with a fiance who she knew 1 month and decided to marry in 1 week and because he's foreign, she wants to show him true, American Christmas at her home.

"You’re doing the party, aren’t you, Mom?"

THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A NO. Plans were made. Preparations were taken. Choices were decided on. BUT, Blair is coming back and we have to abandon EVERYTHING we planned for, because why make poor little Blair who didn't even care to give a proper warning be sad? What would the fiance of one month think?!

Are we even real here? Why is this book making me dislike Blair when it wasn't even her fault for her mother's inability of saying no and her father's inability to set things straight? What is the message this book is giving us?

So, after this great turn of events, the book tries to promote this "neighborhood is your family" mindset, but all I was thinking was that the Kranks suck, the neighborhood truly helps only when their thinking aligns and Christmas is an obligation instead of a happy event that you WANT to take part in.

Am descoperit un alt Grisham... O carte super amuzantă și numai buna de citit in perioada sărbătorilor. Personajele sunt delicioase si replicile pline de savoare. Recomand .

The story is simple enough: the only child of a family won't be home for Christmas, so the parents decide to treat themselves to a cruise instead of dealing with all the drama that comes along with the holiday and then the neighbors get super angry at them!!!!!



This part got my hackles raised. I'm not a fan of people being in my business or giving me unsolicited opinions or advice about things that don't concern them. I've gotten pretty good at going dead-eyed and giving a terse "No." to pushy people. I can see why the neighbors would want Frosty on the roof for a neighborhood award, but you gotta respect when someone tells you no the first time.



I couldn't live in this neighborhood. I know it's a community and they all come together at the end, but I'm a firm believer in setting boundaries with people. *blows whistle* "No means No!"


Further, the parents should have just told the daughter the truth. They get a phone call that she's on the plane home when they already have plans for a cruise. Right then and there they should have explained to the daughter that you can't just surprise people like that; holidays take planning, overnight guests take planning too. "Listen, we already made plans, you need to make other arrangements. You're an adult, so you need to understand that you can't just expect people to drop whatever they are doing to accommodate you." is what the parents should have said instead of rushing around to set up the holiday for the air-headed daughter.

Nevertheless, I still liked the book and read it just about every Winter since it's really short.

3,75!!

Although a bit campy and sometimes even ridiculous, this story was hilarious in parts and definitely struck a familiar chord with me. I've often thought about skipping all the insanity of Christmas and just going off somewhere quiet to relax, recharge and drink mai-tais, but of course family guilt and obligation has always made that impossible. I could relate to both Luther, wanting to save all that money and hassle and just do something for THEM for a change, and Nora, codependent extraordinaire who did things more out of obligation than because she truly enjoyed them (in some cases). Not having children, I didn't feel the maternal impulse to suddenly drop all my plans and rearrange my life for my spoiled brat daughter who decided to come home at the last minute and expected everything to be the way it always was. I was really annoyed at Blair, although it was obvious she was beloved by the whole neighborhood, not just mommy and daddy. But STILL. Just one Christmas without all the BS? How many of us have fantasized about that?

The stereotypes were spot on though, and the slight exaggeration made them even funnier: the competitive neighbors trying to win the award for decorating, the begging for charitable donations and purchases (personally, I would have still done that even if I didn't do anything else, but that's just me). I did love the last part of the book, and the ending--predictably sappy but it did convey the spirit of Christmas and fellowship. I was actually tearing up in the car on the way to work as I finished it this morning! A cute and short holiday read, great narrator for the audio.

What I liked:

The Kranks decide to skip all the rigamarole that has become "Christmas" and treat themselves to a cruise. There are contrary social pressures, which they are determined to resist. I always admire those who are able to fend off the pressure to conform.

What I didn't like:

There is a plot twist and then the whole novel veers off into another direction. Bah-humbug, this reader said. The novel devolves into being quite sentimental and "idyllic" — i.e. false. A fantasy. A sugar plum concoction, that is, of course, at the same time true to type for this sort of Christmas make-believe.

Three stars, because my hard bitter heart has not become completely shrunken and useless.

Still, to all those who decide for one reason or another to "skip xmas" — I salute you! Save yourself a whole heap of stress and a good chunk of cash.

Langsam kommt auch bei mir Weihnachtsstimmung auf.
Daher musste jetzt ein Weihnachtsbuch her. Habe mich für dieses Büchlein von John Grisham entschieden, da ich bisher nur die Verfilmung kenne und liebe ("Verrückte Weihnachten" mit Tim Allen und Jamie Lee Curtis).
Zum Glück war das Buch genauso witzig und charmant wie der Film und hat mir ein paar gemütliche Lesestunden an diesem Sonntag verschafft.
Wenn ich nicht wüsste, dass das Buch von John Grisham geschrieben ist, hätte ich das nie im Leben erraten. Wer hätte gedacht, dass er auch solche Geschichten wunderbar erzählen kann?
Wegen mir hätte das Buch noch ein paar mehr Seiten haben dürfen, allerdings war es so genau auf den Punkt erzählt.
Die Situationen, in die Nora und Luther geraten, sind so herrlich abstrus. Und es kommt beim Lesen wirklich Weihnachtsstimmung auf, da es um den ganzen Wahnsinn rund um Weihnachten geht, wie beispielsweise das Dekorieren der Häuser und der Einkaufsstress rund um die Feiertage.
Und das Ende ist einfach perfekt kitschig und harmonisch. Klare Leseempfehlung für die kommenden Wochen! Und ihr müsst den Film ansehen, falls ihr ihn noch nicht kennt :)