Happy Friday! The countdown continues — only 2 more Fridays left before Christmas! I’ve gotten a lot accomplished in the last week — all the decorations are up and I am down to just a couple of gift cards to pick up. Whew! I’ve almost made it. Have you ever considered skipping all the Christmas doings? I know 2020 has put a damper on many of our traditions — no office Christmas party, no big Christmas Eve open houses — but are you still putting out all the decorations and baking up a storm? My neighborhood looks a lot more festive this year. Some of my neighbors are going all out.
This week I am featuring Skipping Christmas by John Grisham. The book was made into the movie Christmas with The Kranks, but, as always, the book is much better. The book is just as funny, but it has a great message that the movie just didn’t capture. If you haven’t read this book yet, put it on your Christmas TBR list. I think it is a classic.
Here’s the first line:
The gate was packed with weary travelers, most of them standing and huddled along the walls because the meager allotment of plastic chairs had long since been taken away.
Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That’s just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they’ll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty; they won’t be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash; they aren’t even going to have a tree. They won’t need one, because come December 25 they’re setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But, as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences–and isn’t half as easy as they’d imagined.
A classic tale for modern times, Skipping Christmas offers a hilarious look at the chaos and frenzy that have become part of our holiday tradition.
Born on February 8, 1955, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, John Grisham worked as an attorney and Mississippi legislator before becoming a best-selling novelist with works like The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and A Time to Kill, all of which were turned into hit films. Grisham has continued to publish an array of titles, such as Bleachers and The Litigators, and has also worked in screenwriting, as seen with the 2003 baseball film Mickey.
For more First Line Friday fun, head over to Hoarding Books.
I read the book and I love the movie. Merry Christmas.
Happy Friday!
Over on my blog I’m sharing the first line from Thawing the Viscount’s Heart by Mindy Strunk: https://christianfictiongirl.blog/2020/12/11/first-line-friday-165/. It’s a really sweet read. Currently I’m reading Night Vision by Susan Sleeman, so I’ll share a line from there.
“Jenna woke in the middle of the night to the sound of the wind buffeting the cabin.”
Hope you have a wonderful, relaxing weekend! 🙂❤📚
Happy Friday! My first line is from “Amish Assassin” by Ashley Emma:
“What was that? Anna Herschberger stopped walking and looked around the parking lot, reaching for her pepper spray.”
Just got this in the mail yesterday!
Courting Misfortune by Regina Jennings:
1898 Chicago
“You want me to work for Jinxy Seaton? Calista York dropped her handbag onto her desk and reached up to remove her hatpin from her heavy swirl of brown curls.