Skipping Christmas

"Quick disclosure if you were hoping this review would not contain comparisons from the movie Christmas with the Kanks then you might as well move on. Because for me the Christmas magic was missing from this book. Not often is the movie better but c'est la vie.<br/><br/>The set up was good for December 2020. After all that has happened I was not in the mood for the holidays. Skipping sounded like a stress free paradise. Unfortunately Skipping Christmas seemed as if it was an outline to a magical story that would have to be reread every December. But it was just an outline it was still missing important essentials. Magic, love, character growth, and details.<br/><br/>Luther was not the likeable Tim Allen from the movie. He was pretty much a horndog for all women other than his wife. The Kranks in general had no redeemable qualities at all. Even Frohmeyer "The unelected war boss of the street" according to the the movie just bullied the neighborhood. In the book we are told a Pakistani couple lived down the street and moved out just as quickly. So the community felt a little like white washed Christmas Nazis when it came down too it.<br/><br/>I was just disappointed. It is apparently very hard to find a Christmas story that warms the heart as much as holiday movies have done for me. So please if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them in the comments."

"This was an enjoyable read but not as great as I expected. I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if I hadn’t seen the movie so many times and basically knew everything that was going to happen. I also think it just worked better as a movie; I liked the characters more in the movie and I thought the scenes were more funny! But it’s a very quick read and if you enjoyed the movie, I’d definitely say give it a try! ☺️"

"Great book to help get in the Christmas spirit!"

"Great if you are looking for a quick, entertaining, holiday read to get you in the spirit. Skipping Christmas is not necessarily a prize winner, but great for curling up next to a fire with hot chocolate and a blanket. <br/>I laughed out loud a few times."

"Definitely better then the movie. The movie had way more comedic scenes then the book but I think the movie did a pretty good job of getting the main events. They added some stuff but essentially what is in the movie IS the book. It was entertaining. Certainly not the best book ever but it was good enough to finish and that is more then some books can deliver."

"It was just a funny, quick read. "

"Heartfelt and funny"

"Super funny and relaxing"

"A cute little Christmas story, but my goodness what nosy, judgmental people!"

"Actual rating: 3.5 stars.<br/><br/>I saw the movie "Christmas With the Kranks," and was surprised to see that it was based on a novel by John Grisham. I had heard of some of his other books, but I had never heard of this one. I borrowed it from the library, and started reading. It took me a lot longer than I would've expected to finish a 177 page book; reading at night has it's drawbacks.<br/><br/>The film was very true to the novel. I can't think of anything right away that was missing in the movie, though they added some things here and there, and changed a few things too. All in all it was a fun read, especially since it was so like the film and I could see the characters and actions clearly in my mind. The only thing that kind of turned me off in the book was when Luther and Nora were worried that Henrique would have dark skin. I felt like that was random and kind of unnecessary bigotry. Though that did not really take away from my enjoyment of the book.<br/><br/>I would be interested to read other books by this author, though I know they are quite different. The writing style was casual, and easy to read. I'm curious to see how his other novels are."