Rating: 
Summary: light Christmas diversion.
Review: This book is a nice fast read about the yearly insanity known as Christmas. The books subject matter and length should be enough to tell anyone to expect nothing that smacks of Grisham's thrillers. After sending their daughter off to Brazil The Krank's decide to go on a cruise instead of observe the yearly rituals and trouble ensues. As far as I was concerned there is no great insight here it's just a light deversion. I do not see it as a lesson on how to observe christmas or the making of a case for not observing it at all. Just a good book to spend a little time with.
Rating:
Summary: A modern Christmas tale that delivers...
Review: Grisham delivers a modern Christmas tale that is fun, quirky and delivers it's moral message with a perfect touch!!
This is the story of an accountant and his wife and what happens in their lives when they decide that they would like to do something different from their traditional Christmas celebration.They choose instead to celebrate by going on a cruise with the money not spent on their traditional Christmas celebration. While they acknowledge the importance of the birth of Christ, they have decided not to decorate, do gifts or the myriad other things people do during the Christmas season. As they strive to accomplish their goal, the pressure they get from their friends, neighbors and co-workers mounts steadily, yet they stay strong in their resolve. Manners evaporate and kindness seems to be in short supply on all sides. Feelings are bent and bruised and attitudes take a turn for the worse!
Suddenly an unexpected event occurs and the manner is which Grisham works out the situation is wonderful. This is a terrific Christmas story that shows the importance of tolerance, friendship, faith and generosity.
Rating: 
Summary: A yuppie suburbanite's dream come true
Review: Did John Grisham really write this piece of ill-conceived, unrealistic, cheesy, made-for-the-WB nonsense? I had to double-check the jacket to make sure. This is not only completely unlike John Grisham, it's completely unlike anything fit to publish. It amazes me how anyone can possibly rate this trite drivel as "the best Christmas story ever", or "utterly hilarious." One other reviewer commented on how true-to-life this book is. What world is THAT guy living in? This warm and fuzzy yuppie community *might* have existed in some vaguely similar form in a 1920's rural town, but not in the present. And the utterly inane deus ex machina ending only serves to drive home the point that the story had no direction in the first place.The concept is inspired and creative, but falls by the wayside to instead reinforce a standard and fluffy peace-on-earth-good-will-towards-men moral by the end. The idea of skipping out on Christmas is not really that weird, and the fact that an entire community would arise in an outraged uproar over one family's choice to forgo the celebration is so absurd it borders on lunacy. Add to that the fact that the two main characters are one-dimensional and completely undeveloped, and all the supporting cast members serve absolutely no purpose other than for scorn and ridicule, and you have a story that could literally make you angry while reading it. Where to start? Luther's change of heart in the last chapter doesn't make sense (Counting his blessings? WHAT blessings? All your neighbors ridicule you because you don't do what they do!). Nora's completely ... behavior throughout the story doesn't make sense (not to mention the fact that she turns on her husband in literally one second and is suddenly just as bad as the rest of the cruel neighbors). Not even their daughter falling in love with a Peruvian doctor in one week makes sense. First of all, in this day and age, the community's response wouldn't happen as it does in the book. Why? Because, honestly, NO ONE CARES THAT MUCH about other people's personal business. Half my neighborhood could skip out on the holiday and I would never even know, let alone care. Other people's business is other people's business; it's ridiculous to think that an entire community could exist anywhere in the universe where every single man, woman, and child becomes enraged because one man decides not to decorate his chimney with a huge plastic snowman. What's truly odd is that other characters who are mentioned in passing have what would be considered unconventional plans for the holiday, yet no one seems to care about THEM. Luther's travel agent who books the cruise for him leaves for a resort in Mexico on Christmas Eve. Luther's next-door neighbors skip Christmas Day altogether to head up to a ski lodge for a week. Does anyone care that those people aren't sitting in their homes on Christmas day unwrapping Hallmark commercialism to "celebrate" the birth of the savior of the human race? Nope. This short story spanks the reader with the disgusting notion that your friends will turn against you, your wife will turn against you, the world will turn against you, if you don't conform to the masses. I couldn't finish this book fast enough, and you'd be well-advised to avoid it altogether. It took me two days of off and on reading to finish this book. I think it must have been written in a quarter of that time. It's appalling that John Grisham, an excellent author, could have penned this nonsense. It's even more appalling that so many people think it's a beautiful story. It just goes to show you that a celebrity could poop in a bag, call it gold, and sell it for a million dollars. Don't be fooled by the name on the book: this isn't John Grisham in any form that is fit to read or fit to have his name affixed to. "A Painted House" proved Grisham could write good fiction that isn't law-related. "Skipping Christmas" does a 360-degree turn and proves that Grisham CAN'T write fiction that isn't law-related. But even the writing style itself is trite and simplistic. It isn't enough that the plot and characters are absurd, they're not even well-written! If the book hadn't been so short, there is absolutely no way I would have read the entire thing. It really, truly is horrible. If this type of writing is the future of Grisham's career, maybe he should consider skipping novels and write scripts for "Dawson's Creek" and "Gilmore Girls" instead. You can't get much more unrealistic and inane than that.
Rating:
Summary: Quick and Fun Holiday Read
Review: This a quick little story that you can read while standing in those long shopping lines over the holiday season. Nothing complicated, just a humourous and light tale. It's like watching a christmas movie-of-the-week on TNT.
Rating:
Summary: A Light, Pleasurable Christmas Read
Review: Having never read any of John Grisham's works, I had no idea what to expect when I picked up Skipping Christmas. I had reservations at first because I doubted that Grisham could separate himself from a writing style more appropriate for his best selling law dramas and write a light and brief Christmas piece. However, I found this book to be surprisingly enjoyable and very easy to read.
Luther Krank, the protagonist of the story, is portrayed as an Ebenezer Scrooge of the 21st century. He tallies up his family's spending from the previous Christmas and finds that $6100 of his money was drained with very few lasting benefits evident now, a year later. When Luther's daughter, a Peace Corp volunteer in Peru, informs her family that she will not be returning for Christmas, Luther sees an opportunity to evade the dreaded hustle and bustle of the holiday he despises. Luther books a 10-day cruise for him and his wife. The Kranks become targets to their incredibly jolly and spirited neighbors who pressure the couple to conform to the neighborhood standards.
Readers can laugh at the humor in the Kranks' situation and at Grisham's satire. He makes fun of the whirlwind of frenzy that settles over America every December. This novel is mean to be read for pleasure. If you are looking for well-developed plot and characters, this may not be the book for you. It is brief (I read it in one night) and light and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Skipping Christmas is a perfect story for anyone wishing to curl up by the fire and take a break from the Christmas rush.
Rating:
Summary: Cute, enjoyable, mindless entertainment
Review: Not your typical Grisham novel, but a very CUTE story. Funny and endearing and it'd never happen in real life this way, which is why we read anyway, isn't it ... to escape real life for a little while!
Rating: 
Summary: Not your typical John Grisham
Review: I found this book to be mundane. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen - that's the only way I got through the entire book. Thank goodness it was short - I didn't waste a whole lot of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Skipping Christmas
Review: As a gift from a Christian friend, this book made me remember all too well what the "Feast of Saturnalia" was all about for those many, many years we, too, celebrated Xmas, not knowing the TRUTH about this pagan Roman festival. The grumbles and sighs from the Krank couple, to the shunning of the neighbors, is right on the mark as far as Christian Americans and their thoughts and deeds during the Xmas "holiday" season. The "holier than thou" attitude of their neighbors reminds me of Christians around the world who have never thought to research the truth about Xmas, beginning with the fact that it was illegal to celebrate this pagan holiday in early America. It's really too bad that Grisham didn't take it one step further, and let the Krank family happily discover the truth about the timing of the Saviour's date of birth during the Feast of Tabernacles and then allow others reading the book, to know this information, too. But then, TRUTH doesn't always SELL all that well as most folks don't want to let go of what they preceive as their warm fuzzy blankets of untruth, like Xmas. It seems to prove the old saying- GO ALONG TO GET ALONG. But, then what does that say about who we're following? Man or the Creator? Grisham gave a truthful insight into how others treat neighbors/friends when you stop believing and doing what they believe and do. Just going to the mall and listening to the complaints about buying your crabby Uncle Joe a tie he will probably hate or return, should be enough to make people stop and think...what is Xmas really all about and who's idea was it?
Rating: 
Summary: A Christmas Classic!
Review: I loved this story and will add it to my other holiday favorites such as The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans! Also highly recommend Shade of the Maple and The Gravel Drive by Kirk Martin. All are great Christmas gifts and will touch your heart!
Rating:
Summary: Skipping Christmas
Review: What a perfect and fun book to read just before Christmas!! I identified with the sentiments and desire to "skip" the whole crazy holiday frenzy!! Being the same age as Luther and Nora, I have recently had visions of doing exactly what they did. While reading, I decided to definitely cut back on my own choas and will not send cards this year(maybe never again). I will choose to simplify and enjoy the true spirit of the season.....family and spending time with loved ones. This book was great fun to read and had me laughing aloud often. I've not had so much fun with a book in ages. A must read for empty nesters!!
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