Rating: 
Summary: Great Christmas Story
Review: Keeping up to Grisham's standards of a good read without being too wordy, this is a perfect read before you head out to the mall shopping. I enjoyed the light hearted look at our Christmas traditions and the subtle message of the real meaning of Christmas - not in your face like is often seen.
Rating:
Summary: I'm going to make my wife read it!
Review: My wife never has time to read books but I am going to insist that she read this even if she only reads a chapter a day. The book lays down an interesting premise and then just when I thought I knew where it was going - it went another direction. The ending has the spirit of "It's a Wonder Life". Thanks to the author for a good Christmas gift for 2001!
Rating: 
Summary: Obviously a screenplay
Review: I listened to the unabridged version of this book as an audible.com download...what a disappointment. I don't expect Great Literature from Mr. Grisham, but this was one of the worst books I've ever read. It reads like it is intended as a screenplay, starring Chevy Chase or Leslie Nielsen. Many reviewers have spoken of how mean spirited the book is - I wondered if Mr. Grisham was intentionally lampooning people he knows in real life. This is a sad, sorry little book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not very convincing
Review: In my opinion, most of the charactars and situations were not believable. Nora Krank is too nasty to Luther to have you believe they have a happy marriage. Personally, if I were Luther and she treated me the way she treats him,, I would visit a lawyer rather than take her on a Cruise. The premise is great, but the story was dissapointing.
Rating: 
Summary: A John Grisham Christmas Carol ... Of Sorts
Review: John Grisham breaks from his usual genre of mystery and drama to spin a story on the lighter and more humorous side in "Skipping Christmas". Thanksgiving is passed, and the principal characters, Luther and Nora Krank are seeing their daughter, Blair, off at the airport. She will be spending a year down in Peru as a volunteer in the Peace Corps. This will mark the first Christmas without their daughter, and both parents are overly remorseful. Nora especially. Still, Christmas must go on, and Nora knows she has much planning to do, much to prepare for; and, thinking about all the time she must spend getting everything perfect, she shudders in contempt. On his way to work, Luther passes a travel agency, and goes in for a look. He is amazed to see all the vacations being promoted. And when he thinks of the more than six thousand dollars he spent on Christmas last year, it does not take long before he gets up the idea that he and Nora ought to skip Christmas this year to indulge themselves in one of these three thousand dollar cruises. Further, skipping Christmas means skipping the traffic jams, the crowded malls, the long and endless checkout lines, the price gouging, the parade of charities always hitting him up for donations ... and, think of the money saved! Luther is sold. But, will his wife be also? Nora is more than apprehensive at first. She is outraged he would even bring the subject up. It's unconventional, untraditional. Buddhists don't celebrate Christmas. Neither do Hindus. Nor Jews. The Kranks are none of those, and they DO celebrate Christmas. However, after some persuasion about the time and aggrivation which the holiday always brings, Nora begins to weaken. And the brochures Luther shows to her is simply too much. She finally agrees. They will skip Christmas this year. Every thing is settled. The plans are made. What could possibly go wrong? Well, little things do begin happening, quite suddenly. For instance, when the owner of a card and stationary store, The Pumpkin Seed, calls Nora asking her when she will order her Christmas cards, she explains to him she will not be buying cards this year. The man is literaly shocked, and more than annoyed she will not tell him why. Another instance is when the boyscouts come to the Kranks home. It is a tradition that each year the Kranks but a Christmas tree from the boyscouts. So, when the leader confronts Luther at the door, and tells him he has his tree waiting for him, he too is put in shock when Luther tells him they will not be buying a Christmas tree this year. He and his troop trudge away, bewildered, and suspicious. Other little things occur as well, and soon the entire town is abuzz, and talking, and wondering just what is going on with the Kranks. Nosey neighbors begin spying on their home. While they are putting up Christmas lights, decorating their trees, busily preparing for the christmas holiday, the Kranks are not. It all seems rather curious. The Kranks can't be left alone for two minutes without someone coming up to them, or calling them, and asking what is going on. The final straw comes with the Frosty The Snowman display. Each year it is a custom, but more at mandatory, to set up a Frosty display atop ones roof. A prize is handed down for the best decorated street, and Hemlock, the Kranks street, is used to winning. So, while all the other neighbors, save one, labor to install Frosty, it is becoming apparently obvious the Kranks are neglecting their duty to the town. Growing concerns arise, and as the neighbors suspions grow, Luther and Nora are forced to hide out in their own home, fearing what the people would think of them if they ever found out they were skipping Christmas. And yet, things only get worse for the Kranks. Their best laid plans are falling apart as suspicions mount. The people are becoming more on edge, more tense, especially those used to profitting off the Kranks during the Christmas season. It's all the town can stand; all these little things which don't add up, which don't make sense. The town must know once and for all just what is going on which the Kranks. Will Luther have the strength to confront the town and tell them the truth? How will the town respond? Will Luther and Nora Krank take their ten day cruise? What else can possibly go wrong for the Kranks that hasn't already? "Skipping Christmas" is a delightful story, filled with a kind of humor we are not used to seeing from John Grisham; and, as well, a kind of insight into the human mind. But one in which is hoped he will display more often in future books.
Rating:
Summary: A great story, full of Christmas spirit.
Review: When Blair Krank leaves home for a year in Peru, her parents realise that Christmas just won't be the same this year. Luther Krank, a tax accountant, calculates that last year Christmas cost them $6,100 and decides that this year the Kranks should skip the Christmas festivities altogether and take a Caribbean cruise instead. With the cruise booked and word out that they won't be celebrating this year, the Krank's begin to prepare for their departure on 25 December but what they aren't prepared for is the reaction of their friends and neighbours who are determined that they won't skip Christmas that easily. But, when 'disaster' strikes the neighbours all pull together and show that they really are full of the Christmas spirit. This short novel is a quick and funny read which made me want to put on the Christmas songs and decorate the tree. I would recommend it to anyone whether you love Christmas or can think of nothing better than skipping Christmas yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing and sloppy.
Review: This wasn't the worst book I've read, but it also did not live up to the marketing. Grisham took the predictable, easy way out. For such an established writer, I was surprised the editors did no fact-checking. Most people know the Peace Corps is a two-year stint. Many know you do not serve with four other volunteers in the same village - you are most likely all alone. Some even know that the Corps has indeed lost volunteers in the past thirty years; hopefully their families won't read this, because that's a pretty offensive mistake.
Rating:
Summary: What a delight!
Review: I have already passed my copy of this book on to three people, all of whom enjoyed it every bit as much as I did. What a treat....a real Christmas gift from John Grisham. And if his name was not on the cover, I never would have guessed that he wrote this wonderful little gem. Every year I buy a family Christmas book for us all to read...some years it is a pop-up book and other years it is something more serious. This year's book is "Skipping Christmas" and I think it will produce a lot of food for thought and some good discussion. Although this book was full of humor and irony, I still felt the palpable tension as Christmas got closer, the feeling of being overwhelmed that many of us feel as the holidays approach. Even though the Kranks had decided not to celebrate Christmas, they still were under a lot of peer pressure from their neighbors, which created a lot of tension in their lives and gave Grisham an opportunity to show his humorous side (for example when the Kranks were hiding inside their house to avoid the carolers, the rooftop scene, and especially when Luther was "borrowing" his neighbor's Christmas tree). In the end, we see what the real meaning of Christmas is and why all of the trappings of the holidays are not what makes it worthwhile. Anyone who has ever been a parent will understand the decisions the Kranks made. Well worth reading every year, I believe, to remind us of what is and is not important in life.
Rating:
Summary: Should be a TV Movie
Review: I was so excited to read this book. I was really looking for a light hearted book to read in a short period of time and found it. I think Grisham did a wonderful job of picking out just what we would all like to do instead of going through all the Christmas mess. I love Christmas, but hate the shopping and everything else that goes with it. I recommended this to all my friends because it just so perfect for this time of year. As I was reading this book, I was really picturing this on my TV screen and hope to see it turn into a TV movie at some point. It would really be a lot of fun.
Rating:
Summary: Subtle racism spoils this otherwise fun-to-read book
Review: I've always enjoyed Grisham's novels, but am disturbed by the subtle racism in his newest book. The book was fun-to-read and was read easily in one afternoon. It had the pace of watching a movie. The jabs at Peruvians, though, spoiled it for me. I do not want to tell anything about the ending of the book for anyone reading it, but especially at the end, I found the racism a bit over-the-top. The book really seemed like it was made to be a movie, and it looks like that is exactly what will happen. Hopefully, they will take the racist dialogue out of it though.
| 
