Book: Skipping Christmas

Author: John Grisham

Luther and Nora drop off their daughter at the airport because she is going to be in the Peace Corps. They know Christmas will never be the same without her. Luther works with numbers and pulls out last year’s receipts of what they have spent during last Christmas. Luther finds it cheaper to go away on vacation than it is to do Christmas, so he talks to Nora and they decide to skip Christmas.

Skipping Christmas means no holiday cards, no Christmas Eve party, no Christmas tree, and no putting up Frosty on their roof. Frosty on the roof is a street tradition, every house on the block needs to have it up. Luther refuses to do it and the town is mad.

On Christmas Eve, while they are packing for their cruise their daughter calls and surprises them by saying that she is coming home for Christmas. With the help of their neighbors, they go into full Christmas mode, making sure their daughter never knows about their silly idea of skipping Christmas.

The story was made into a movie called Christmas with the Kranks. It is one of my favorite Christmas movies that I watch every year. The movie did a fantastic job of recreating the story. At times I was replaying the movie in my head as I was reading it. This great Christmas book/movie should be read or watched each year.

Final Score: 5/5