The holiday season is upon us and I would like to briefly share some of the gifts I have received this year. As some of you might know, I am a big John Grisham fan, but the last few years, I have been reading up on a lot of other authors, therefore I wasn't paying much attention to what John Grisham was writing.

One of three 'new' (to me) Grisham books I've received this year was Skipping Christmas, a great book about the social extortion that takes place every Christmas. It's a short story that isn't like most Grisham books (he created the genre 'Legal Thriller'), but worth the read none the less. It's a pretty short book (I finished it in 2 nights while reading in bed) with just 183 pages.

The story is about the Kranks, a family with a daughter that decided it's time to give back to society and serve others for once: she joins the Peace Core and gets shipped off to Peru. This all happens just before Christmas; she'll spend a year in Peru and then be back in time before next Christmas. This triggers the head of the family - Luthor Krank - to do what he does best; make the balance for what Christmas sets him back every year. After he finds out that he had spent over $6,000 last year, he decides to skip Christmas and book a 10 day cruise to the Caribbean, but when their acquaintances and neighbors find out, Luthor finds out it won't go over as smoothly as he'd expect...