Skipping Christmas

Skipping Christmas. John Grisham. 2001. Dobbleday. 198 pages.

Hello friends! Hi book lovers! I am back to write you about a perfect book for Christmas.  It is a new way to approach these holidays. Undoubtedly, I recommend it.

THE DECISION

Why did I choose this book? It was November and I had started to think about Christmas. I love this time of the year because all the family are together and we decorate our house, it is really nice! For this reason when I saw the tittle of the book, I was interested in reading it.

PLOT

The story focuses on how Luther and Lora, who are the main characters, try to avoid celebrating Christmas holidays this year. They think that there is no harm in skipping them. However, one of the major arguments against that is their neighbours, who object to the fact that Luther and Lora do not put Christmas decorations in their home. They say that it is harmful to their neighbourdhood.

MY MIND

It is a funny and a realistic story, where we can see the difference between the opinions about this celebration and their real meaning.

RECOMMENDATION

As I said before, I really recommend this book because it is very funny and it is fantastic for these days near to the festive season.

Sonia

Eloisa's review

Sharing my Reading Experiences

Eloisa’s blog

Sunday, December 17,2017

The Reluctand Fundamentalist

Mohsin Hamid 2007

A hard but gratifying reading experience

Hi buddies!! Last October I decided to roll up my sleeves and start the reading task we were expected to do for the first term in our school. It was the first time I have had to face a whole English book in its original version. So I asked the librarian to recommend me an easy and thrilling one. He did a good job, since I consider it impressive and inspiring.

Plot sumary

The story is set in a café in Lahore where a young Pakistani man called Chanze offers to share a drink to an American visitor who seems a little suspicious of him.

Chanze starts telling the man about his life in the United States. How he was an excellent student at Princeton and became an outstanding analyst for a consultancy firm. Living in New York he had a distressing relationship with Erica, another princetonian student who he met during a holiday in Greece. Erica didn’t feel the same pure love toward Chanze, since she could not forget her first love who died.

After the September 11^th attacks in New York, Erica got depressed, and Chanze changed his mind towards American society. He saw himself as a servant of the American empire.

When Erica disappeared in a mental institution he left his job and returned to Pakistan where he became a professor at the University of Lahore. The American Government was suspicious of him and sent the strange man who was sitting with him to intimidate him.

My opinion

I am glad that I decided to read this book, since it has opened my mind and I can see things from another point of view. I strongly recommend it.

LIVING HERE AND NOW

Living here and now

Monday, 22 January, 2018

BELEN'S BOOK REVIEW

THE MIRACLE OF MINDFULNESS, THICH NHAT HANH (2008)

First encounter

I began doing yoga during a depressing and hard time in my life in which I really needed to seek a path to find inner peace and to feel physically stronger. Yoga uses Mindfulness to enforce the balance between soul and body. That is the reason why I decided to read this book written by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk, as a means to take a close look at the knowledge of the philosophy of Mindfulness. 

Plot

The essential principle of Mindfulness is “living here and now”, being completely aware of what you are doing  and taking hold of your own consciousness. The practice of this discipline allows people to build up concentration and stop mental dispersion through breathing  which, although it is a natural function, it must be carried out in a proper way, such as the Sutra of Mindfulness teaches us, being mindful while you are breathing in and breathing out slowly in order to calm the activity of the body.

My mind

This book is recommended to everyone who wants to keep a first contact with Mindfulness because it developes concentration skills, releases stress and brings calm. It is certainly worth trying as it helps firstly to improve well-being and secondly to reach personal fulfillment.

Thanks

To my heartwarming yogi, Mr. Salcedo, for showing his philosophy of life besides his unselfish help for me to reach the discipline.

SKIPPING CHRISTMAS

TITLE: SKIPPING CHRISTMAS

AUTHOR: JOHN GRISHAM. 2001

ARROW BOOKS. 198 PAGES.

BEFORE READING

"Skipping Christmas" was recommended to me by a classmate as a humorous, easy-to-read, short book.

WHILE READING

The book is a charming and hilarious look at the chaos and madness in which our consumerist society has transformed part of our religious Christmas tradition.

John Grisham is an American bestselling writer, attorney, politician and activist best known for his popular legal thrillers.

The story focuses on how Luther and Nora Krank decides to skip Christmas and to set sail on a Caribbean cruise (ten nights of total luxury) when their daughter Blair leaves home to dedicate the next two years to helping others in Peru. Yet, the couple soon discover that Skipping Christmas brings about catastrophic consequences…

This is a light-hearted comedy novel. Although the subject of the book is trivial, something unusual in this author, Grisham does a highly entertaining job satirizing the usual Christmas craziness and the ridiculous excesses of the season. The book has been compared with "A Christmas carol" by Dickens. However, Grisham's story lacks the magic and fantasy of the classic Christmas tales.

AFTER READING

In spite of the fact that the book does not seem to me great literature, it is a fun read I would recommend to everyone who loves a good laugh. Particularly, it is suitable for young people.

You should definitely read it!

Love this book!

Finally, the last step is enjoying the film based on the book -- CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS.

I cannot wait to watch it!