Rating:  Summary: The perfect holiday read! Review: This is the perfect book for everyone caught up in too much holiday--shopping, partying and decorating! I finished it over the long New Year's holiday and totally enjoyed its lighthearted, yet serious, look at the way we Americans over-commercialize what's supposed to be a religious holiday. I would love to see it turned into a holiday movie release, especially if they cast the guy who played Newman on Seinfeld as the cop Salino. I'd actually like it if they brought back the Chevy Chase-Beverly D'Angelo team as the Frohmeyer family! Stop being Scrooges and read Grisham's attempt at a lighter, family-oriented fare! And Bah Humbug on anyone who pays full price--I got my copy from the library!
Rating:  Summary: A Waste of Money & Time Review: "Skipping Christmas" is a most worthwhile idea to consider. Unfortunately this author treats it shabbily and shallowly. (I would give this book zero stars but found the program required a choice of 1-5.) The amount of time, energy, money and anxiety many of us spend each holiday season, without reflecting on the value received for our efforts, is mind-boggling. For adults to expect gifts (as though they were still five years old & believed in Santa Claus) is juvenile, mercenary and ridiculous. Yet how many of us continue this unexamined pretense at celebration. And others of us play into the practice by excessive shopping, spending, & gifting.Christmas is a lovely religious holiday. The scriptural history, music and ritual can be uplifting and almost mystical. Christmas as a time for small children is especially rich and sweet. But, Christmas for mature adults without religion and small kids is an expensive, exhausting, silly activity and well worth "skipping." I hope to find an author who will treat the subject with respect.
Rating:  Summary: Grisham has good idea... Review: I think that John Grisham has a wonderful idea for this story. Christmas has become a major pain, well for me anyway. I'm really not trying to be a "Scrooge", but as a single parent, the pressure seems overwhelming. I digress. This book is great for a light, humorous look at a different sort of Christmas. Luther Krank had a great idea, but it was ruined by both his wife and daughter. It's a delightful read. Merry Christmas!
Rating:  Summary: Skip Skipping Christmas Review: I have read each of John Grisham's books and have enjoyed all...until now. Humor writer he ain't!
Rating:  Summary: Fun Reading Review: I truly enjoyed this book, I read it in two days! Didn't want to put it down and then couldn't wait to pick it back up. I laughed out loud through out the book as I pictured the characters in the predicaments they created. How many of us would like to skip Christmas sometimes but would never have the courage. It was such a fun read and left me with a smile on my face which is what I needed during the hectic Christmas season.
Rating:  Summary: A Good, Quick Read Review: Skipping Christmas is a great book if you're looking for a quick read that offers a cute story, laugh-out-loud lines, and no evil plot or villians. It's not John Grisham's usual legal thriller, but it's still good. I think at one time or another, every one can relate to Mr. Krank's feelings. This book is definitely worth the few hours it takes to read.
Rating:  Summary: Skip This Book Review: Shame on you, John Grisham and on Doubleday as well! With A TIME TO KILL you proved you could write something besides cookie-cutter courtroom thrillers. And even though that book is heavily dependent on legal drama, it is a riveting character-driven page-turner about the rage that consumes a father when his daughter is savagely attacked. SKIPPING CHRISTMAS is a cheap shot to capture seasonal dollars, obviously rushed to press in November, and so shoddily printed that the headers are unevenly spaced, sometimes touching the edge of the page, and the print is almost too pale to read without strong light. With a lot of work, SKIPPING CHRISTMAS might have made a mediocre short story, but it is a terrible novel, crammed with too many characters and dependent on the totally unbelievable premise that a woman as generally "together" as Nora Krank would lie to her daughter and then scurry for hours to make truth of the lie; you give short shrift to the daughter's brusque actions and lack of common courtesy. You rely on every cliché about Christmas, including drunken office brawls, thoughtless gifts, meaningless Christmas cards, commercialization, and crass symbols such as Frosty the Snowman. You try to redeem the rudeness of the neighbors and the many weaknesses of the plot by wrapping everything in a big red bow at the end of the book, but gift-wrapped garbage is still garbage. I can't believe you need the money, so why did you do this to your readers? Even more important, why did you do it to yourself???
Rating:  Summary: Entertaining!!! Review: Grisham, for the second time, moved away from his usual genre so that he could give us,the real fans, a taste of his mildly wacky side. I had a good time reading Skipping Christmas, realizing after all that this author is not your typical millionaire-snob with a mountain of a chip on his shoulder;he is funny, he cusses like the best of us and is too human to be hated. Thanks for the laughs!
Rating:  Summary: Good Escape from all the Holiday Stress Review: I enjoyed the few hours to took me to read this book. I am not usually a Grisham fan, so I had no expectations going into it. It was a quick read and a "cute" story. If you're looking for a good, "Fluffy" story, that will help you escape real life for a few hours, Read It. If you're looking for a Masterpiece of literature that will challenge your intellect, this is not the book for you.
Rating:  Summary: FUNNY AND INSPIRING Review: This book was a total surprise to me. I am a fan of Grisham, but I never knew he could be so funny. I spent most of this book laughing out loud. Then the last chapter brought me back to the reality of a "happily ever after" ending. This is a the story of a couple who want to get rid of the baggage of a materialistic world around the holidays. Their solution is to skip Christmas. They plan a lavish vacation and inform their friends. The lengths they go through to avoid the typical Christmas activities are hysterical. Then their 23 year old daughter calls and tells them she is coming home with her fiance to show him how great Christmas is with her family. They are thrown into a worldwind of activities to make their daughter happy. Great book, I would recommend it to all who need a lift after a materialistic Christmas.
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