Tag: Contemporary

Book Review: Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

Skipping Christmas
Author: John Grisham

Narrator: Dennis Boutsikaris
Published: November 6, 2001
Audiobook: 3 hours 42 minutes

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: December 4-5, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars

Audiobook Description:

Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded shops, 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 the street without a rooftop Frosty the snowman; 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 has become part of holiday tradition.

Jessica’s Review:

 I read Skipping Christmas many years ago and was only reading it again because it was December’s read for the book club I am in. As I started it, I remembered what was going to happen.  If you have seen the movie Christmas with the Kranks then you know what happens.  I had seen that movie once as well and just didn’t like it.  I remembered Jamie Lee Curtis and Tim Allen played the main characters so I pictured them as I was listening to this short audiobook. I also remembering not really liking the movie and the book was just average for me this time around.  It’s a lot of slapstick comedy ( I mean it is Tim Allen in the movie!).

Luther and Nora’s daughter has joined the Peace Corp and this is her first Christmas away from them.  Luther does the math and saw how much they spent last Christmas so he comes up with the idea of “Let’s just skip Christmas and go on a cruise!”. The book deals with the aftermath of that decision. And a lot of people make their thoughts clear on it. 

I just didn’t really think highly of this book. Not everyone celebrates Christmas so to each their own.  Just let the Krank’s do what they want regardless of what they have done in the past! And OMG, No Christmas party!!?!?!?  For shame!!!!

Regardless of how you feel, everyone (over)reacts to the Krank’s decision, with an unexpected twist that comes if you haven’t seen the movie or read the book; you see how everyone can come together to make Christmas something after all.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

Christmas with the Kranks movie trailer:

Book Review: If You Could See The Sun by Ann Liang

If You Could See The Sun
Author: Ann Liang

Published: October 11, 2022
341 pages

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read:  November 5- December 3, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars

Book Description:

Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she’s the only scholarship student among China’s most rich and influential teens. But then she starts uncontrollably turning invisible—actually invisible.
 
When her parents drop the news that they can no longer afford her tuition, even with the scholarship, Alice hatches a plan to monetize her strange new power—she’ll discover the scandalous secrets her classmates want to know, for a price.
 
But as the tasks escalate from petty scandals to actual crimes, Alice must decide if it’s worth losing her conscience—or even her life.

In this genre-bending YA debut, a Chinese American girl monetizes her strange new invisibility powers by discovering and selling her wealthy classmates’ most scandalous secrets.

Jessica’s Review:

 If You Could See The Sun took me way too long to read, but it’s not the book’s fault: In fact after reading it I wish I had been able to read it quicker. I enjoyed this one and it was a fun read that actually had some unexpected action to it! 

We have a book that deals with the differences in class which is a much bigger deal in China where the book is taking place.  We have Alice who is going to school on a scholarship (with continuing to rise prices) but soon her scholarship might not cover the cost of school! Suddenly she develops a ‘power’ to become invisible!  Alice decides to monetize her new ability by creating an app.  She also ends up working with her crush who is also her highest academic rival. Not being able to control her ‘ability’ does limit what she can do, but the jobs she finds herself doing go from nothing too serious to actual crimes, yes crimes! Alice gets more than she bargained for with the app and her ability. She finds out more than just classmates secrets.  It was refreshing in this time of ‘superhero movies’ that the regular Alice didn’t try to help others, but help herself to be able to stay in school.  Not everyone wants to be a superhero!  That just seems like something most people would do: How can I help myself first of all!  Alice is just a real girl: She’s sarcastic, smart, knows what she wants but also clueless at the same time.  In fact: a regular teenage girl! 

Despite there being an invisibility aspect to the book and not getting any answers in regards to it, the book just seemed realistic.  Teens being teens and the consequences of what they do. 

This is refreshing book! If you are looking for a romance angle, don’t be as it is an extremely slow burn. For a debut novel, this book has so many strengths, I am excited to see where Liang goes next!

Many thanks to the publisher Inkyard Press for sending me a copy to review via Bookish First. I hate that it took me so long to actually read it.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

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Audiobook Review: Forget Me Not by Julie Soto

Forget Me Not
Author: Julie Soto

Narrators:
Callie Dalton

Teddy Hamilton
Published: July 11, 2023
Audiobook: 9 hours 15 minutes

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: November 9-14, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 2 stars

Book Description:

An ambitious wedding planner must work with her grumpy florist ex, whose heart she broke, on the most high-profile wedding of her career, in this spicy and emotional romance from popular fanfic author Julie Soto.

He loves me; he loves me not… 

Ama Torres loves being a wedding planner. But with a mother who has been married more times than you can count on your fingers, Ama has decided that marriage is not the route for her. But weddings? Weddings are amazing. As a small business owner, she knows how to match her clients with the perfect vendor to give them the wedding of their dreams. Well, almost perfect…

Elliot hates being a florist, most of the time. When his father left him the flower shop, he considered it a burden, but he’s stuck with it. Just like how he’s stuck with the way he proposed to Ama, his main collaborator and girlfriend (or was she?) two years ago. But flowers have grown on him, just like Ama did. And flowers can’t run off and never speak to him again, like Ama did. 

When Ama is hired to plan a celebrity wedding that will bring her business national exposure, there’s a catch: Elliot is already contracted to design the flowers. Things are not helped by the two brides, who see the obvious chemistry between Ama and Elliot and are determined to set them up, not knowing their complicated history. Add in a meddling ex-boss, and a reality TV film crew documenting every step of the wedding prep, and Ama and Elliot’s hearts are not only in jeopardy again, but this time, their livelihoods are too.

Jessica’s Review:

This much I can say: I love the cover!

But can I please forget Forget Me Not? This one started as a buddy read with my friend Beccie but she ended up DNFing (did not finish) it at 53%. I made it through the audiobook, but it was not for me. What kept me going was all the wedding planning: I found that interesting and wanted to know what was going to happen on the big day. That was the only reason I kept listening.

Ama and Elliot are our narrators with Ama narrating present day and Elliot in the past, where it seemed like he still was! Neither of them was likeable.  And Teddy Hamilton’s narration/ voice of Elliot just rubbed me the wrong way! It made Elliot even less likeable.  There was also no chemistry between the two, it was all about hooking up: There was no romance here!  And I’ll just say this, those sex scenes were just too much detail for me! I was skipping through the track during them. Apparently, I need ‘sweet romances’ and fun ‘rom com’/ ‘chick lit’.

All I really know about these two characters:

Elliot is grumpy and supposedly heartbroken (but again there was no romance, just sex!). Oh yeah, he also has flower tattoos all over his body which makes him hot.

Ama loves donuts to an extreme.  An extreme danger: If you are allergic to peanut butter, why do you still buy peanut butter donuts? Answer: Because they are a top seller.  Really?!?!?!   She also has a former boss who kept showing up. Is she trying to sabotage Ama or help her?

I’m not going to say anymore about this one other than Beccie and I seem to be in the minority here.  Or are we? We both had similar thoughts on the book. I kept her up to date on what happened since I finished it.  Maybe we will have better luck with another buddy read at another time!

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

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