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Wait – THAT John Grisham? Yes, THAT John Grisham wrote the Skipping Christmas book – a holiday comedy about newly empty nesters attempting to dodge the chaos of Christmas by booking a Caribbean cruise.
I was looking for funny Christmas books and stumbled into this audiobook in my library’s app. After reading the synopsis about the wacky holiday hijinks from Luther and Nora Krank, I immediately recognized it from the 2004 movie, Christmas with the Kranks.
So I figured, if John Grisham’s Christmas book was good enough to turn into a less than mediocre movie (5% on Rotten Tomatoes) with Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis, it’s good enough for me.
My Skipping Christmas book review:
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Table of Contents
Skipping Christmas Book Summary
John Grisham’s Skipping Christmas follows Luther and Nora Krank. The Kranks are a suburban couple facing their first Christmas without their daughter, who’s off with the Peace Corps. Instead of the usual chaos of decorations, parties, shopping, and neighborhood peer pressure (get the snowman and decorations up!), Luther hatches a plan. Let’s forget Christmas and spend the money on a Caribbean cruise. If just for a year…
Of course, the plan doesn’t go over well. Their neighbors pride themselves on over-the-top holiday spirit. And they treat the Kranks like they’ve committed treason by not participating this year. Everyone gets in on the guilt trip. Just when the cruise is in sight, their daughter calls to announce she’s coming home for Christmas. With her new fiancé. (Excuse me, did you say fiancé???) Cue the mad scramble to pull together a traditional holiday in less than 24 hours. Lights, party, tree (possibly stolen), ham, and goodwill toward men.
It’s a short, satirical jab at holiday consumerism, community pressure, and the chasing the elusive “perfect” Christmas. All wrapped up in slapstick comedy.
Check out more funny Christmas books!
Who is John Grisham?
if you don’t know who John Grisham is, I can’t really help you. But here’s a short paragraph anyway:
John Grisham is one of the world’s best-selling authors, famous for his fast-paced legal thrillers like The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and A Time to Kill. A former lawyer from Mississippi, he’s sold hundreds of millions of books and seen many turned into blockbuster movies. Every once in a while, he veers off the courtroom path, like with his holiday comedy Skipping Christmas.
Check out some of my favorite humor essay collections here!
Now onto the rating! Skipping Christmas by John Grisham:
My innovative system for rating humor books is explained here
Wholesomeness Score: 4/5
Skipping Christmas is pretty darn wholesome. A sprinkling of swears, but otherwise no violence, sex, or trigger-some content. Just good ol’ fashion slapstick fun.
Hilarity Score: 4/5
I was a bit scarred by the movie’s over-the-top slapstick (Christmas with the Kranks). The book itself has plenty of humor in the Kranks’ repeated failures to actually skip Christmas. Not joke-a-minute, but funny and relatable throughout the entire story. We’ve all been a bit hilariously over-extended around the holidays, right?
Overall Book Awesomeness Score: 4/5
Grisham’s Skipping Christmas book was a quick, witty, fun holiday book with way more charm than the movie adaptation.
Things I liked:
- relatable – I often feel over-extended around Christmas. Sometimes I feel like skipping, but I get caught up in the same trap of decorations, gifts, concerts, etc.
- I actually love Christmas. Decorating, celebrating, eating, songs, etc. Never mind what I said above.
- The ‘ol heartwarming twist of helping someone in need.
Things I didn’t like:
- One of these days, my own daughters could announce, “I’m bringing my fiance!” Who???
Conclusion: Final Thoughts on Skipping Christmas Book by John Grisham
Skipping Christmas isn’t your typical John Grisham courtroom drama. It’s (way) lighter, shorter, and aimed squarely at holiday craziness instead of legal corruption. If you’re expecting nonstop belly laughs, you’ll be let down. Yet it is consistently/subtly funny through the whole story. If you want a quick, clever poke at Christmas consumerism, this one should resonate. Think of it as a stocking stuffer of a book: small, festive, and entertaining. But not exactly a grand gift (like, say, a Caribbean cruise!)
What is your favorite funny Christmas book? Comment below!
