5 Estrellas, pese a la brevedad, es un libro genial y perfecto con el que he pasado unos momentos divertidísimos. Corto, ágil y muy ameno, es un relato que va al grano, critica y concreta lo que significa el consumismo estadounidense en unas fechas tan significativas y sagradas para ellos como son las navidades.

Acaba de pasar Acción de Gracias, y la familia Krank va a sufrir un cambio, su hija Blair, acaba de terminar la universidad y se ha apuntado a una labor de voluntariado en Perú, estará allí más de un año, por lo que no estará con su familia las próximas navidades.

Luther, el cabeza de familia está harto de lo que representan el gasto, consumismo y la horterada que es la Navidad, sobre todo en su barrio. No estando su querida hija ¿Para qué van a celebrar las Navidades? Nada de colocar árboles, luces, el muñeco hortera de Navidad en el tejado, los dulces, las cenas y la fiesta en su casa. Así que se le ocurre una genial idea, en vez de invertir los más de 6000$ que se gastan cada año, él y su mujer, Nora, se irán diez días de crucero por el Caribe.

Pero ¿Qué pasará en su barrio cuando toda la calle se entere de que los Krank no celebrarán la Navidad, y lo que su decisión ocasionará en el vecindario? La comedia está servida, porque la novela no es si no una chanza y crítica hacia la sociedad estadounidense, y su manera tan hortera de pasar las fiestas, celebrar cenas, regalos, invitaciones, dulces, y sí, las decoraciones tan estrafalarias para presentarse a los concursos del ayuntamiento.

Y la historia será mucho más amena y divertida según pasan los capítulos, porque los Krank se llevarán más de una sorpresa, y al fin y al cabo, lo que se acerca es la Navidad. ¿Triunfará el espíritu de las fiestas? Pues todo esto se sabrá en una novelilla que apenas tiene 170 páginas y que es sencillamente magnífica, ideal para leerla en Navidad, o en cuaquier época. A mí desde luego me ha encantado y la recomiendo, porque la risa la tienes asegurada.

This has to be one of the bleakest books I have ever read. The couple at the center of the story seems to be locked into a sort of suburban yuletide cult. The husband's plan to skip Christmas is met with resistance by his wife and she never seems to fully embrace the idea. This is reinforced when their daughter announces her imminent return and the wife utilizes their limited time to excoriate her husband for his terrible idea.

The community reacts to the Kranks' plan in the most toxic manner imaginable. Neighbors judge and denigrate this couple for the crime of wanting a vacation and first responders are perturbed as their annual extortions come up dry. Only when the Kranks renew their fealty to their holiday overlord, does the community come together to throw a farcical party to placate their impetuous daughter. The ending is supposed to have a feel good quality, however it seems to posit that you can only count on your community's support if you are conforming to the standards of others. Post-apocalyptic societies seem more welcoming in comparison.

الهروب من طقوس الاعياد؛ لا انكر انها فكرة مغرية؛فالاجازات قد تضغط الي حدود لا معقولة.. فتغريك بالهرب و قد نفذتها مرة؛ و لكن في عيدنا الكبير
و قد نفذوها العائلتين في فيلم وحدي في المنزل بدون ضجة بل و لعامين متتاليين

جريشام يناقش هنا تطرف بعض الأمريكيين في التمسك "بمظاهر العيد" من خلال اب يقرر بعد سفر ابنته ان يتجنب الكريسماس و؛ يقاطع الاحتفال و يوفر الاف الدولات و يسافر بزوجته للكاريبي؛ لنتبين معه ان احتفالك بالعيد و العام الجديد؛ ليس لاجلك بالضبط بل لاجل كل من حولك و عدم احتفالك يفسد روح العيد علي الكل

ففي النهاية جيرانك هم من يشاهدون سانتا الذي تنحته و زينة منزلك التي قد تكسر ساقك و انت تعلقها فهناك دوما منافع متبادلة بين البشر مهما كانت اختياراتهم و تفضيلاتهم؛ و الفردية الأنانية لن تناسب المواسم ابدا عبر العالم

و بالطبع هذه اغرب روايات جريشام المتمسك دوما بالملاحم القانونية للابد؛ و لكنه هنا استعرض قانون الإجازات الصارم

بالطبع انتصر جريشام لاستمرار تقاليد الاحتفال

☃️n  I'm not doing Frostyn☃️

I almost missed out on one of the funniest holiday books! I can't believe I borrowed this last year and returned it after listening to just one chapter. For some strange reason, I just didn't get it then.

As crazy as it may sound, this "dnf" last year is now proudly on my favorite shelf! I laughed so hard that I was in tears. I didn't know John Grisham can be so funny.

This is what the holiday is all about. Love LOVE this book.

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham was the PERFECT Christmas story for me! It was fun and refreshing. The general premise of the story is exactly something I could see my husband and me doing. Read it and learn a bit about our personalities!

If you’re looking for a Christmas story that is not a ‘sappy romance’ or a ‘Hallmark movie,’ pick this up! This story is hilarious. Hilariously ironic and thought provoking. What is Christmas all about, really? I laughed, I cried (i.e. I cried from laughing), I was touched, and ultimately just felt happy reading this gem.

The writing has an excellent tempo and reads very quickly; it’s also a short read just under 200 pages. For a quick, lighthearted, and Christmas filled fun story, please read Skipping Christmas!

Having never read a Grisham novel before, this has to be the best introduction to his books!

On a sentimental note, this story made me realize how important it is to us adults to make Christmas special for children - it’s all about the kiddos! Am I right?! What’s Christmas spirit without a whole lot of childhood magic!

Thank you for reading my review on Goodreads! Follow me on Instagram (@journeyofthepages) for further bookish engagement! www.instragram.com/journeyofthepages I hope to meet you there!

This review contains spoilers because this book is not worth reading. You have been warned.

The book portrays the over-the-top commercialism that many people live every day, but even more so at Christmas time. A couple tries to skip Christmas and spend the money on a cruise instead. They are ridiculed by their neighbors, office workers, and friends. Everything is going fine until a surprise Christmas Eve phone call from their daughter, who has been in Peru for a month, that she is returning home for Christmas with her fiance. The wife start an emergency Christmas, blaming her husband for not having Christmas this year. They decide to not tell their daughter about the cruise and stay home for Christmas. They pull it off Christmas and give the cruise to their neighbor, whose wife has cancer and doesn't have long to live.

The couple gave in to their adult daughter and protected her from knowing about their plans. They should have told their daughter that they were grateful for her visit, but they had different plans this year and would be leaving on Christmas Day for a cruise. Instead, they reacted like parents of a toddler that throws a tantrum in the store, "BUY ME SOME CANDY!". Children, especially adult children, need to learn that the world does not revolve around them.

The wife should not have blamed her husband for not having Christmas. She was in agreement about the cruise. While it was harder for her to skip Christmas, she did it willingly. She and her husband are equally responsible for this.

I was just going to skip this book and send it on, but the fact that it is written by John Grisham, and it is "a hilarious look at the chaos and frenzy that have become part of" the "holiday tradition" made me change my mind. Anyway, it is a very quick read, couple of hours so I decided to read it.
I enjoyed it very much as it is quirky, snarky and laugh out loud funny. John Grisham is an accurate observer of, well everything he observes probably. In any case, he writes in an engaging and astute fashion and I loved reading a book that constantly made me laugh. From tanning beds to plastic Frosty snowmen on the roof, weird tropical outfits to Scrooge like tendencies, a daughter in the Peace Corp; John Grisham has everyone so well portrayed that a silly book becomes a real pleasure to read. I also loved the ending, cried even.
Although there are some serious ideas met with here also, like what happens if you don't conform, when other people will support you and when they won't, even the pressures to be a giving person, a family person, not to be the one who says I am going to take a slice of life for me that doesn't involve doing something for someone else, and I am going to enjoy it!

Christmas 2022 - Meh

I finally got around to reading this novella on which the dreadful movie Christmas with the Kranks* is based. They are very similar. The book has a better title, so of course the movie didn't use it. I really dislike the message of the story. At first it seems to be condemning the mindless conformity and consumerism that has overtaken our celebration of Christmas; but then it turns around and embraces these as the way to achieve happiness and community.

*Shameful disclosure: Even though I KNOW it's dreadful, I watch Christmas with the Kranks every year. I'm not sure why. I hated it with a fiery passion the first time I saw it, yet somehow it grew on me and has now become a tradition.

Pues... en mi casa se ve la peli cada vez que la ponen en la tele y como este año estoy sin tele me dije: Es hora de leer el libro XD. Y la verdad es que me he reído un montón porque la peli es una adaptación bastante fiel y la tenía todo el rato presente en la mente.

**Alerta Spoiler!!!

1.-La historia. Blair, la hija de los Krank se va de voluntaria a Peru y no va a estar en navidades, así que sus padres deciden "saltarse la Navidad" con todo lo que conlleva (no fiestas, no cenas, no árbol, no donaciones, no adornos, nos regalos, no Frosty en el tejado) y marcharse de crucero, para desgracia de Vecinos, amigos, compañeros y tal, que no están muy de acuerdo con esa decisión tan poco navideña. Y empiezan los líos, y cuando Blair dice el mismo día 24 que vuelve y además acompañada de su novio con el que va a casarse, los líos se multiplican por 2.

2.-Los personajes. Luther Krank es peor que el señor Scrooge, irónico, sarcástico, orgulloso... y claro,le pasa de todo (y aun le pasa poco) XD
Nora Krank me sacaba de quicio, tenía un comportamiento muy infantil y exagerado.
Blair ni fu ni fa, pero los vecinos eran geniales.
La verdad es que no hay mucho desarrollo de los personajes porque a la historia no le interesa. Es una sátira y una critica a la navidad, al consumismo y demás, y al final nos deja la típica moraleja del verdadero sentido navideño, el de unidad y tal (poco importan de verdad los personajes, que son los típicos). Porqué quien no quiere matar a sus vecinos por lo menos una vez a la semana porque son unos tocapetolas?, pero luego cuando los necesitas de verdad siempre están ahí (al menos en los pueblos es así, en las ciudades no lo tengo yo tan claro...).

3.-La pluma, la trama y demás. El estilo no era enrevesado pero no me convenció mucho, a veces pasaba de una cosa a otra de repente. Se lee fácil y es un libro cortito y las escenas que querían ser graciosas, aunque forzadas, consiguieron sacarme unas sonrisas (porque es muy difícil conseguir que algo me haga tanta gracia como para refirme). Se me hizo un poco pesado sobre la mitad, pero el final pasa volando, incluso un pelín precipitadamente.

4.-El final. Bien, una feliz navidad con todos unidos y una especia de redención de Luther que tiene un gesto de amor desinteresado que lo hace ser un poco menos señor Scrooge.
Eso sí, en el libro no hay ladrón ni escarabajo (coche) tirado por renos, pero me dio igual XD

En fin, 3 estrellas sobre 5 porque me hizo sonreír y pasar un buen rato, y porque no se le puede pedir más. Se que este no es el genero habitual de Grisham así que me he quedado con ganas de leer algo más suyo.

**Libro leído para los boletos de navidad de "La cafetería de Audrey"

A long time ago I used to read John Grisham. A lot of John Grisham. I was definitely a fan of the courtroom drama written in his words. So, I thought this book might be a safe (and also easy) choice for book club.

Not so.

Unfortunately, this book was surprisingly terrible. It was so bad that it might just be the standard by which to judge all other terrible books. Underdeveloped, shallow characters, pointless diatribe, a complete lack of conviction, and a splash of random racism combine to make this a book you should probably avoid.

And, what's worse is, the more I think about this book, the more I hate it.

A reread of my favorite Christmas book (and also movie). This book is so silly, but it really gets me in the Christmas mood, and always makes me laugh. I just love it.

This book starts off with a rather hefty dose of reality check about the Christmas period shopping binges we all partake in.

Set in an all-American town, in a street not unlike those you see in the kids Christmas movies, Skipping Christmas follows a couple through an interesting idea.

Luther and Nora Krank give up the turkey and all the trimmings, turn a blind eye to the street Christmas light competition and refuse to decorate their house, and, instead plan a get away to the Caribbean on a cruise.

I liked the sound of this story, but the first 80% of the book was a bit too negative for me. All the trials and tribulations Nora and Luther face seemed a bit too much, their supposed friends and colleagues not being even remotely supportive.

It was, for a fair chunk of the story, tracking for a two star rating, but the Christmassy ending boosted its overall likability.

Certainly very christmas oriented, this one should get you in the Christmas spirit if you can make it to the end.