A lighthearted, quick read regarding what happens when a husband and wife do not conform to the neighborhood’s holiday rituals. At times humorous and other times okay.

Quick, cute Christmas read that I was overall very pleased with. One star off because Blair is a bit of an ✨ungrateful brat.✨

Featuring ~ dual 3rd person POV, Christmas (duh)

This short book follows Luther & Nora. Luther is frustrated about spending $6,100 on Christmas last year, so this year they are going on a cruise and skipping Christmas. The plans are made and the tickets are purchased when they get news that their daughter, Blair, is coming home for Christmas. So now they are rushing around trying to bring the magic back into their home. Can they pull it off in time for Santa's arrival?

Overall, a super quick likable Christmasy tale.

Narration ~
Dennis Boutsikaris ~ 3 hours and 42 minutes ~ he did a fine job.

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Una comedia navideña muy alejada de lo que Grisham nos tiene acostumbrados. No me llenó. Se lee rápido al ser cortita, pero lo que se suponía debía ser gracioso, no terminaba de conectar con mi sentido del humor. Quizá fue cosa mía, ya que han pasado unos veinte o cien años desde que lo leí, pero el recuerdo que me quedó es de novela floja.

There was nothing wrong with this book. My two stars are a reflection of my enjoyment (or lack thereof), not Grisham’s skill. I have always loved Grisham and remember anxiously awaiting his next release with almost the amount of anticipation I reserve for Stephen King or Colleen McCullough. That waned after the tenth book in a row written with the Grisham “David & Goliath” formula, so I remember the excitement that THIS book would be different. And it was. Careful what you wish for…
This had its funny moments. I think we've all wanted to skip Christmas at some point and the lengths to which the Kranks go to make that happen are funny. Behind the funny though was discomfort for me. Their neighbors reacted with such animosity. What business was it of theirs? I want to believe it was unrealistic as well, but I can’t quite convince myself that it is.
Despite moments of discomfort the story ends with a “Happily ever after…” feel that I found very, very unbelievable. This was my library’s book club selection for December and the book was so blah that we were finished discussing in about 20 minutes. Usually they are shoving us out the door as the library closes two full hours after club begins, but this month we just chatted. That’s a failure in my eyes!
The one thing we all discussed for most of the time was “Who the hell was Marty?”! If anyone knows, please tell me your theories. :D

Great easy read around the holidays.

This was a quick and funny read (even if you don't like Grisham thrillers, try this one), but oh so true... I only wish I had the courage to really skip Christmas... we came close one year when we spent Christmas in Disney-- no tree, no major wrapping, no frantic cookie baking... it was such a relief!

(Read in Dec 2006)

Honestly, when I got to the ending, I thought "what was the point of this?" The author, it seemed, slapped two different concepts together and as a result, created a very disappointing book.

First half had great potential in the Krunks fighting a losing battle against forced gaiety and the commericialization of Christmas. I was rooting for the Krunks to make it to the end.

Then the daughter decides to come home.

All is lost as they attempt to recreate Christmases of the past for the daughter. Why?

I was very deflated at the end to see the Krunks cave. There was no lesson in this except that when spoiling your daughter, no sacrifice or compromising of ideals or caving to the Stepford neighborhood is too much.

Author could have made a blistering commentary on the overblown excess of the season, and caved to it instead.

What a sweet and humorous Christmas story.

Skipping Christmas starts off with Luther and Nora Krank saying farewell at the airport to their daughter, Blair, as she departs to Peru to work for the Peace Corps. This is the first year she won't be celebrating Christmas with her family. Almost immediately afterward, Luther hatches a diabolical scheme - to skip celebrating Christmas altogether and depart on a cruise to the Caribbean instead, saving thousands of dollars in the process. At first Nora is reluctant but he persuades her and she finally accepts the idea. Now the married couple must endure the trials and tribulations that their Christmas fanatic neighborhood put them through and hope to come out not only alive but with a fantastic looking tan.

I picked this book up for two reasons: one being that I was looking for something to accomplish a certain task in a book reading challenge, and two that I was looking forward to reading something by John Grisham. He's better known for his law and courtroom thrillers, and after reading Skipping Christmas I can clearly see why.

The characters were all one-dimensional. Luther was the grumpy, unwilling, egotistical husband (notice how the last name conveniently be misinterpreted as cranky). Nora was the reluctant, easily brought to tears house wife. Blair was the perfect daughter that everyone loves. They were basically cardboard cut-outs and I didn't ever connect to any one of them: even the various people in their neighborhood seemed to be sadistic and cruel. Which brings me to my next point...

Why were the people on Hemlock Street so harsh and unforgiving? I'm sure that various people due to their religions and beliefs choose not to celebrate Christmas. Yet, the poor Kranks were tortured tremendously and seemingly martyred for their outright refusal to participate in the annual festivities. I know that Grisham intended this to be humorous, but I thought all the characters and most of the plot (skipping Christmas and being hassled) was over the top and really generalized.

Besides my forgiving rating system, the reason why Skipping Christmas managed to garner 2/5 stars was it's convenience. I can see how someone looking for a quick, easy read would enjoy this story. It had some funny moments, especially towards the end when the family is scurrying to create a positive experience. The writing was rather bland for my taste but probably accessible for someone looking for a fun, light Christmas story. Either way Skipping Christmas might want to be left alone until the holiday season comes around, because it would be difficult to get into at any other time of the year.

I adore holiday books, especially those centered around Christmas, but this is one I wish I had skipped. At least it was short.

First of all, I didn’t like anybody through 7/8 of the book. Mr. Krank, is, well, a crank. His wife agrees with his skipping Christmas idea but still manages to lay all the blame on him. Their neighbors and friends are jerks. I would be jealous if someone I knew were taking a cruise for Christmas not angry. I do think the Kranks were going a little overboard though. I’d still do some decorating, after all they were planning on being in town through most of December.

Even the daughter was inconsiderate, assuming that her parents had made no alternative plans. And why they didn’t just tell her that they would be happy to spend Christmas Eve with her, but they were leaving on Christmas Day for a cruise is beyond me. She’s a grown woman, out of college, capable of heading across the world on her own.

The last bit of the book held all the feel good moments, but overall I didn’t care, and by the end felt manipulated. I guess it had an anti-materialism message somewhere, but there are way better stories out there.

Me es imposible hablar de este libro sin hacer spoiler a si que cuidado.
Cuenta la historia de un matrimonio que estando sin su unica hija deciden irse de crucero en vez de celebrar la Navidad. Desde entonces reciben un acoso a mí parecer exagerado de sus vecinos y de la sociedad en general ya que no comprenden que no hagan ningún gasto en estas fechas.
A si que se pasan medio libro intentando huir de los vendedores y vecinos y el otro medio preparando en una tarde una cena de Navidad ya que regresa a casa inesperadamente la hija.
No me ha gustado mucho por tener bastantes clichés pero en los últimos capítulos me he reconciliado con el libro porque muestra que a pesar de todo puedes contar con los vecinos y amigos y muestra que se pueden celebrar unas Navidades sin patafernalias ni hacer tanto gasto.