As A Year of Books followers know, I am taking part in a Christmas Reading Challenge again this year.  For the month of December, I will mix holiday tales into my reading pile.  To begin the challenge, I listened to Skipping Christmas.  This book, written by John Grisham and published in 2001, inspired the hilarious Christmas with the Kranks movie with Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Now, I have completed the trifecta of reading, listening and watching this story, laughing my way through each medium.  The tale begins as the Krank’s daughter, Blair, heads off to Peru as a volunteer with the Peace Corps.  Luther, an accountant, crunches numbers and decides that, with his beloved daughter away for the holidays, they will skip Christmas altogether and go on a cruise.

Hilarity ensues when the scouts are disappointed he does not buy a tree and the neighbours pressure hime to mount frosty to the roof as part of the neighourhood holiday decoration contest.  Luther loses weight and even prepares for the cruise with tanning appointments.  Each day, the Kranks try to avoid the holiday to the dismay of the neighbours.

At the last minute, with no tree, no festive foods, no presents and no one invited to their annual Christmas Eve party, they receive a call.  Blair is coming home!  The Kranks rush to pull things together and with the help of their neighbours the holidays come together.

This is a fun read, a great listen and a laugh out loud movie.  The antics of the Kranks keep the reader/listener/viewer in stitches and should be an annual tradition.