Rating: 
Summary: Skipping Christmas? Don't Skip This Book!
Review: John Grisham's latest book, "Skipping Christmas," is an excellent look at how one couple decides to just miss out on Christmas and the holidays, while eliminating all of the chaos and extreme spending that naturally goes along with it. Being a high-school student, I was forced to choose a book to read; one of which I would have to write a research paper on. I chose this book, because I thought it would be an excellent read, just in time for the holidays. I must say, I do believe I made a smart choice.
Skipping Christmas flows very nicely, and is hard to put down. Every chapter seems to have a new and exciting, sometimes comic adventure that Luther and Nora Krank must face. This book is very relaxing, and the characters are very descriptive, thus they are easily recognized, and visualized. They interact very well in real-life type situations.
I recommend this book to everyone, as it is a nice, fairly quick read that will readily get you into the spirit of the holidays. Grisham teaches the reader that our society is losing touch with the important things in life, such as social interaction, and that the material possessions are over-powering whats important. Being a high school student that rarely reads, I must say that I really did enjoy this book, and would not have any second thoughts reading another by John Grisham.
Rating: 
Summary: Delightful novella, thought provoking, warm fuzzy ending
Review: Certainly a departure from the "normal" Grisham fare, this nice little Christmas story, easily read in an hour and a half, has a little more substance than we expected. It's about a stereotypical suburban couple, the Kranks (which for a while we thought was a pun), who make the brash decision to forego Christmas in all of its trappings -- gift exchanges, office parties, house lights and adornments, card sending, tree decorations, etc, etc -- and instead spend far less money to cruise the Caribbean for 10 days. The pressure from the neighbors, office staff, friends, traditional "gift" receivers like the firemen and such, is so enormous they almost buckle, but their steadfast hold on their decision for the first half of the book gives more than ample pause to examine the familiar traps we may similarly have fallen into ourselves. Then an unexpected development with their daughter, supposedly in the Peace Corps in Peru and out of sight for at least a year, plays havoc with their plans. The outcome and resolution is hilarious at first, then somewhat heartwarming, to put quite a twist on a story one was hardly sure of its direction. We thought it to be a highly entertaining book and quite a nice change of pace for Mr. Grisham who seems to (ala A Painted House) want to expand away from his normal stomping grounds. We imagine he sold a bazillion of these books, but if you missed it somehow, it's a fine read and would itself make a nice holiday gift!
Rating:
Summary: Great fun anytime of the year
Review: We read this in our book club--off season--and it was just great! By all means don't think you have to wait until December to enjoy this brilliant little gem from Mr. Grisham! Also recommended: Bark of the Dogwood, A Painted House
Rating:
Summary: A Light Read With a Grisham Twist
Review: Luther Krank has a wild idea: skipping Christmas. No crowds. No shopping. No commercialism. He and his wife have just sent their daughter off to Peru. What's the point of having holiday parties, decorating the house and celebrating Christmas when it's just the two of them? Besides, Blair will be back next Christmas. Things can go back to normal then. After some heavy convincing of his wife, Nora, the Kranks begin a holiday boycott. They won't buy a tree. They won't put Frosty on the roof, a neighborhood tradition. They won't buy gifts. They'll go on a Caribbean cruise instead, leaving on Christmas day. As the Kranks slowly announce their plans to friends and neighbors, they quickly become the brunt of Christmas jokes. Carolers show up on their door step trying to convince them to get into the Christmas spirit. The Kranks find signs in their front yard demanding to "Free Frosty" and put him back on the roof. Policemen show up to sell their annual calendars. Firemen show up to sell their annual fruitcakes. Boy Scouts show up to sell their annual trees. Luther Krank won't budge. He sticks to his no-Christmas vow and has to be the solid rock to keep Nora dreaming about the Caribbean. But on Christmas Eve, an unexpected phone call forces them into sudden re-evaluation of their strategy. John Grisham's light-hearted tale is a great way to get into the holiday spirit. What gives this classic plot line a fresh perspective is Grisham's touch of humor and his popular writing style. In the first chapter alone, you'll be laughing hysterically. Grisham brings out the atmospheres of Christmas that irk you to pieces and, at the same time, make the holidays such a special part of the year.
Rating:
Summary: Skipping Christmas? Don't Skip This Book!
Review: John Grisham's latest book, "Skipping Christmas," is an excellent look at how one couple decides to just miss out on Christmas and the holidays, while eliminating all of the chaos and extreme spending that naturally goes along with it. Being a high-school student, I was forced to choose a book to read; one of which I would have to write a research paper on. I chose this book, because I thought it would be an excellent read, just in time for the holidays. I must say, I do believe I made a smart choice.
Skipping Christmas flows very nicely, and is hard to put down. Every chapter seems to have a new and exciting, sometimes comic adventure that Luther and Nora Krank must face. This book is very relaxing, and the characters are very descriptive, thus they are easily recognized, and visualized. They interact very well in real-life type situations.
I recommend this book to everyone, as it is a nice, fairly quick read that will readily get you into the spirit of the holidays. Grisham teaches the reader that our society is losing touch with the important things in life, such as social interaction, and that the material possessions are over-powering whats important. Being a high school student that rarely reads, I must say that I really did enjoy this book, and would not have any second thoughts reading another by John Grisham.
Rating:
Summary: Great premise
Review: This book has an absolutely great premise. And the fact that it didn't "go" where I thought it was going only confirms my belief that Grisham is one of the best authors around. No, it's not on the same level as "The Firm" or some of his legal thrillers, but it is well written and extremely funny. But the fun has a dark underbelly that eventually emerges. I was reminded of possibly some Vonnegut novel, or maybe McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood" or even a work by T.C.Boyle. My only disappointment with this book is that Grisham has not done more with this style and format. I think he's really got more books of this genre in him than we might imagine.
Rating: 
Summary: Skip This Book
Review: Annoying story, annoying characters, annoying waste of money.
Skipping this book would have been a better move.........
Rating:
Summary: Not Worth It
Review: Personally I thought this book was awful. I am a huge fan of John Grisham and I did't think this was even close to being as good as his others. The entire plot line is in the title and the end was extremely predictable.
Rating:
Summary: Loving Family
Review: Megan Lackey
English 108
M. Wagner
Loving Family John Grisham, in his eyes that Christmas was more of a chore then a holiday with family, friends, tree, lights, gifts, and fire. Grisham novel, Skipping Christmas is a five-star rating, because he shows that Christmas is about the friends, and the family. Grisham shows Christmas is not about how many ordements you have on your tree or if you have a ham or turkey for dinner but is about how people come together and show there love. Grisham talks about how people can come together and help each other out when they are down on their luck. This book is all about a family that wants to skip Christmas. Their daughter Blair goes away to Peru a month before Christmas and will not be back for a year. Her parents Luther and Nora decide to go away for Christmas to take a cruise. It sounds like a wonderful idea. They would not do anything for Christmas no tree, Christmas party, lights, and no frosty on the roof. Luther was a tax accountant and he did not like spending all his money on Christmas and going to the stores and buying gifts and waiting in traffic to him was a chore not a pleasure. Luther and Nora went each day trying to avoid anything to do with Christmas the neighbors tied to sell them calendars, trees, and fruitcakes but all they said was that they were sorry but they were not doing Christmas this year. They were all confused and upset and wanted to ask so many questions but did not. There was a contest for most decorated road in he town and one neighbor named Frohmeyer always wanted to win. The whole road was to put a frosty on the roof of the house so each house would be somewhat the same. Frohmeyer wanted Luther to do Christmas so bad that he took a picture of Luther's house with no lights or frosty on the roof and sent it to their local newspaper. Luther was mad but did not give up they were only a couple of weeks away now. A couple more weeks later on Christmas Eve day they both slept in late. When they got up they were ready to pack and go on there cruise until they got a phone call it was Blair there daughter said that she would be home for Christmas and is bring home her fiancé named Enrique. They wanted her to come home and so they said that they are doing the party, tree, frosty, and Christmas. They stared planning everything out Luther would go get a tree, and decorate it while Nora would go get food and think who to invite to the party. Luther got a tree but when he got home it was nothing more then branches so his neighbor loaned him his tree seeing that he goes away each Christmas with his family. He decorated it and started calling people for the party. There was everyone was busy. So he tried to put frosty on the roof but got caught by the neighbors and then he almost fell off the roof and was saved by the neighbors. They found out that Blair was coming home and all tried to help the best way they could. They would all come to the party and pick up Blair at the airport and all have a nice party. They did not have a lot of gifts under the tree or frosty on the roof but it still wonderful Christmas eve party. This novel is a wonderful way to show that neighbors do care and if you just ask for help they will come and together and work as a team. It also shows that Christmas is in all about a tree, frosty, or gifts it is about love and forgiveness. Christmas is not a chore it is a wonderful expresses to come together and be with the people that you love.
Rating: 
Summary: Skip This Book
Review: Skipping Christmas is a short tale about what happens when Nora and Luther Krank decide to forgoe spending the $6100 that they spent last Christmas and take a Caribean cruise instead. Predictably, the Kranks are soon facing a boatload of peer pressure to "get into the holiday spirit". Their neighbors are upset when they don't put the usual giant Frosty on the roof (thus costing them the neigborhood decorating contest), the printer is upset that they won't be ordering Christmas cards or party invitiations, their friends are upset there won't be a big Christmas party, the police association is upset that they won't spend $100 for a calendar...and on it goes. As you can tell, what starts out sounding familiar and funny, soon drags on for too long. To make matters worse, after Nora and Luther drag themselves through each of these painful encounters, and you just start to begin being able to like them for sticking to their guns, their grown daughter calls unexpectedly and says she'll be home in a few hours and is bringing her new fiance home with her, and she just can't wait to show him Christmas in the United States. Do the Kranks do what a normal, reasonable couple would do and say, "Well, we're sorry dear, but you didn't give us any notice, and you see, we've spent $3000 on a cruise and have plans to leave tomorrow." No, they totally capitulate, hence throwing away all the effort they put into skipping Christmas to begin with. They throw the $3000 down the drain and by hook and crook (and some really ridiculous scenes), and with the help of the neighbors who had been so snotty about them skipping Christmas to begin with, throw a big Christmas party for their daughter and her new fiance. The whole story was just ridiculous and predictable. By the end, I just couldn't like ANY of the characters. A neighborhood that thinks some family "owes" them Christmas decorations? Good thing they weren't hindus. Parents who think their grown daughter is too immature to understand that they don't want to flush $3000 down the toilet? At the end of the book, I just felt like these people needed to get a grip, get a life, and get some priorities. I'm only glad that it was a small book and didn't take up too much of my time.
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