Skipping Christmas - Discussion Questions

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and Holiday weekend! I also hope everyone is enjoying the book, Skipping Christmas. (or enjoyed it if you finished!) I think it is a funny book! Our next meeting isn't until the second week of January but I found a few questions that might spark discussion. If you've read it, (or not) please feel free to answer these questions in a comment below. Have a safe and happy new years everyone! :)

1. As you were reading the book, did you find yourself siding with or against the Krank's as they skipped Christmas?

2. Do you think it is possible to skip Christmas entirely?

3. If you skipped Christmas, what traditions, etc would you miss the most?

4. Has this book affected how you will view the Christmas season next year?

Skipping Christmas - The Movie

If you didn't already know, Skipping Christmas was made into a movie in 2004. The movie is called Christmas with the Kranks starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. It's a funny family movie so I wonder if the book will be the same. Not that they ever are. I try to live by the phrase, never judge a book by its movie. Maybe not live by it, but I agree 110%! :)

Here is a trailer of the movie Christmas with the Kranks. Pretty funny/silly movie! I would recommend it, especially during Christmas time!

Book Help - Skipping Christmas

To find this month's book, here are some links of places I have found it. If you know of any other links, let me know. :)

Amazon New= $6.99 Used= $3.89

Borders New= $6.99

Borders (Used Marketplace) = $2.09

Barnes & Noble New= $6.29

I also want to mention that I got mine at Borders but it was in the Mystery/Thriller section. Go figure! I mean, I know its John Grisham, but still! :)

Christmas Jars by Jason Wright

These book club meetings just keep getting better and better! Becky hosted on Monday and everything was just perfect! It had been raining and cold all day and Becky was prepared with soup with rolls, pumpkin bars, hot cocoa and more! Perfection! Most read this wonderful book and agree that it was a great one. A truly inspirational book. We chatted about Christmas traditions and how we try to help others. Some of the questions I posted below were answered as follows:

2. What have you unexpectedly discovered and how do you think i can/will change you life?

- Babies change lives FOREVER. (haha)

3. What was the significance of the tic-tac-toe game of tater tots (Pg. 16)? What simple traditions do you have in your life and what do they symbolize?

- Christmas eve pajamas, Christmas eve dinner, "Bundting" bread, Christmas day dinner

4. "This just don't belong in the papers (Pg. 31) Do you agree? Are acts of kindness better left anonymous?

- No, If they are in the papers, maybe more people can learn about the acts and take part in them.

- Yes, its more genuine if it's anonymous.

5. How can you give away Christmas (Pg. 69)?

- Buy gifts for families in need.

We all brought a white elephant gift this meeting to celebrate Christmas and everyone was too nice! No stealing of presents at all! But it was a great way to get Christmas going. Becky surprised us with empty jars, ribbons, fabric, paper and foam pieces so we all could make our very own Christmas jars. It was such a great idea and had a couple of us in tears. :) It was such a great time to get together, eat great food, talk about a great book and do a project for a great cause.

The next book is yet another Christmas book, which is perfect for us to read through Christmas day! It is called Skipping Christmas by John Grisham.

Here are some photos of the night!

The Spread!

BC member Jenny brought Vietnamese eggrolls!! MMMM!

Pumpkin bars... to die for!

BC member Jen got a snowman....and some bows! haha!

Making our Christmas Jars!

Christmas Jars - Experiences

I hope everyone is enjoying or enjoyed Christmas Jars as much as I did! It was such a good, dare I say, heartwarming book! :) I would definitely LOVE to start a Christmas Jar of my own. So many people all over the country have started a Christmas Jar tradition. I found this map on his website at http://www.christmasjars.com:

As it states, each star represents communities where jars have been given to someone in need. Also on the website are stories of people's experiences they have with their Christmas Jars. I have read a few and they are truly great, and inspiring stories. If you have a few minutes, I recommend reading some: http://www.christmasjars.com/share.php This was such a perfect way to get into the Holiday spirit. I can't wait to discuss the book! The website also has book club questions so we will have plenty to discuss! I have included the questions below. If you've read it, please leave your answers in a comment so I can share them at the meeting!

1. In one sentence, how would you define the word HOPE?

2. In the prologue, "Hope" is unexpectedly discovered, and it forever changes the life of Louise. What have you recently unexpectedly discovered and how do you think it can/will change your life?

3. What was the significance of the tic-tac-toe game of tater tots (pg. 16)? What simple traditions do you have in your life and what do they symbolize?

4. "This just don't belong in the papers" (pg. 31). Do you agree? Are acts of kindness better left anonymous?

5. How can you give away Christmas (pg. 69)?

6. What "jar story" did you most relate to? Why?

7. Have you or your family been blessed by a Christmas act of kindness?

8. Do you believe that "good goes around"? How have you seen that in your own life?

9. What can your book club group do to bring hope to someone in need this holiday season? Who do you know who might be in need of their own Christmas jar?

10. Will you go home today and start a Christmas Jar of your own?

Book Help - Christmas Jars

In case you need a one stop place to shop around for this month's book, I have provided some links for ya! It seems to be a really short book so it is inexpensive! Love it!

Amazon New= $8.77 Used= $6.50

Borders New= $7.95

Borders (Used Marketplace) = $4.01

Barnes & Noble New= $7.15 Used = $3.82

Alibris = $4.50

If you know of other places, let me know! :) Here's to getting the Christmas spirit a little early!

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Last night was another great book club meeting! We had almost everyone in attendance which always makes for a fun evening!! Although only three of us actually read the book we always have a fabulous time eating, catching up, reviewing movies and books. Consensus of the three of us was that it was a decent book but not really scary at all. There were some creepy parts and it might have been scary when it was written in 1959 but we have all read scarier books. The Shining seemed to be the book of choice when it comes to scary books. We did NOT like the Doctor's wife and felt that she had no real purpose in the book. We compared The Haunting of Hill House to its movie parallel, The Haunting. Then we compared The Shining to its movie. From there it was a movie discussion about other scary movies, classic movies, just our favorite movies! I LOVE these fun conversations. It was a really fun night!

What did you think of this month's book? What are your favorite scary movies?

Our next book is Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright to get us in the holiday spirit! I will post places to order it soon if you don't already have it.

Some photos of the night:

The spread!

Baked potato bar..mmm..

Since BC member Chelsea just had her adorable baby, she brought photos of him to share!

Giggling...much of this was happening last night! lol

TV, Educational?

BC member Jenny took this photo on a road to Greenville Island from downtown Vancouver, Canada. It is on the side of a library and I love it! If you can't read it, it says

"I find television very educational. Every time someone switches it on, I go into another room and read a good book" - Groucho Marx

Truer words have not been spoken! Although I do have shows I watch, sometimes its best to have silence in my house and read a good book. Don't you agree?

Next book club meeting is in T minus 7 days!

The Haunting of Hill House - Movies

Since we are reading a "scary" book this month, you may be interested in a scary movie to go along with it before Halloween. Although we are firm believers in the phrase: "Never judge a book by its movie", sometimes the movies are fun too! :)

The Haunting of Hill House was first made into a movie in 1963 titled The Haunting. This one stars (L to R) Julie Harris as Eleanor, Claire Bloom as Theo, Richard Johnson as the Dr., and Russ Tamblyn as Luke. I'm gonna have to Netflix that one for sure!

The second movie was made in 1999 also titled The Haunting and stars (L to R) Lili Taylor as Eleanor, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Theo, Liam Neeson as the Dr., and Owen Wilson as Luke. Has anyone seen these and if so are they scary/suspenseful? I can't imagine anything with Owen Wilson as scary/suspenseful but ya never know!

We're not alone!

BC (bookclub) member, Debbie, found something! She found another No Obligation Book Club! The exact name! So.. I decided to google 'No Obligation Book Club' and we are not alone. Realsimple.com has a no obligation book club, and there is one on goodreads.com! And we thought it was such an original name! :) I thought this was funny news to share.

Well, read on No Obligation Book Clubbers, read on!

I hope everyone's enjoying the book, The Haunting of Hill House. How creepy is Mrs. Dudley? :)

Price War: Walmart vs. Amazon

Looks like Walmart and Amazon are going head to head to offer the lowest prices on some of the newest books! Check out this article from the NY Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/books/17price.html?_r=1&hpw

Honestly, I never thought Walmart even had many books to choose from, but going online, they had this month's book, The Haunting of Hill House for $10.17, which is pennies cheaper than Amazon! I guess if you are a fan of Walmart, they offer competitive pricing for books!

Book Help

I thought it might be easy for you to access this month's book if I brought some options to you! :D Below are various sites that you can purchase the book The Haunting of Hill House.

Amazon  $10.20

Borders (Used Marketplace)  $11.88

Barnes & Noble  $12

Alibris  $1.99!!

There may be others, but I love these. We're all really excited to read this book, though we hope its not too scary! Enjoy!

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Tonight was our book club meeting to discuss Catching Fire. Although most of us had read it already, we were excited to discuss this book (finally)! The consensus? We LOVED this book. It was just as gripping as the first. Some liked the first book (The Hunger Games) better but some liked this one better. Either way, we all are kind of getting sick of Katniss not being able to decide who she loves. Peeta or Gale?? We all vote for Peeta, but it is understandable why she loves Gale too. What we mostly wanted to discuss was how Suzanne Collins could end the book how she did! She really REALLY left us all hanging for the next book, but that won't be here for a long time! She left us with so many questions about a district 13, where's Peeta, where's her family... So many! We were also discussing the movie that they are for SURE making, starting with The Hunger Games and who should star in it... What do you think? Have you read this book? Tell us what YOU think! :D

This is our first post of many, please feel free to comment and leave your input! We would LOVE to hear it!

Little highlights of the night:

The beautiful cake Jenny brought! Thanks Jenny!

The spread:

Our little pal of the night: Polly

I almost forgot! Our next book, to read over halloween is The Haunting at Hill House by Shirley Jackson.