The Christmas Train

Simple read. Nice characters. Not really a book club choice tho.

December book club read, discussion questions after the review. This is a cheesy Christmas feel book, so if you read it in the spirit its meant, you will enjoy it like a Hallmark movie. Honestly I was surprised to see so many discussion guides available online. We have a jaded burned out journalist who decides to take a train trip from the east coast to the west coast to see his casual girlfriend of 3 years. We meet many eccentric characters along the ride, reconnect with a lost love, have several bizarre tiny "mysteries" to solve, participate in several pranks, and learn a lot about trains, train travel and funding, Samuel Clemons, and the internal goodness of all people. The end rescue scene is bizarrely glossed over - how on earth did these people not freeze to death? - and the end reveal was a surprise to me. Strangely i found the history lessons interesting, and I kept thinking about Sheldon Cooper's love of trains. https://litlovers.com/reading-gui... https://bedtimebookreview.com/boo... Discussion Questions On the first train the attendant "was carrying a huge cluster of newspapers all balled up". What did you think the newspapers were from? When they appeared on the second train again what were your hypotheses? Eleanor told Julie, "You're not marrying Steve's parents." (p. 144e) Many people say when you marry someone you marry their whole family. In your experience, which is more accurate? Who did you suspect to be the thief? On page 367e we learn that "All the items that had been stolen on the Chief - and many of the items that had been taken during the trip on the Capitol Limited - had been returned to their rightful owners." Did that change any of your suspicions? Discuss the plight of transportation in the United States. Compare with any knowledge you have of foreign travel infrastructure. Consider this passage from page 200e: Did the airlines build the airports? Do they pay for air traffic control? Fact is, the airlines have been given tens of billions of dollars by Uncle Sam and they still barely make any money. The highways get over eighty cents out of every transportation dollar and the result is we keep building roads and we keep buying gas-guzzling cars to drive on those roads and we're one big traffic jam and dependent on foreign oil. With just a one-penny-per-gallon fuel-tax fund, Amtrak could build a world-class passenger-rail system, but the government won't give it to us. Ironically, this country was built by rail. Connected the east to the west and made America the center of the world." Did you feel like the thefts were handled realistically? How did the delay of not filing a police report until the ride ended in Chicago affect the story? Did this delay tactic serve a worthy purpose in the architecture of the story? Share your thoughts on this saying: "Where there's faith, there is no fear." (p. 297e) On page 372e a young boy questions how there could be a god who would allow the train to get trapped. Discuss Roxanne's answer to the boy: ...it's often said that God works in mysterious ways. You have to really think about what He's trying to do. You can't be lazy and believe in God; He doesn't make it that easy. It takes spirit and faith and passion to really believe. Like most things worthwhile in life, you get back what you put into it. Only with faith, you get back a lot more." Theme Ideas On the first train we briefly meet Sue Bunt from Wisconsin. She is a "sales rep for a health-food company" who "slathered her roll in butter" (p. 112e). You could serve bundt cake, Wisconsin cheese and rolls with butter. In that scene the passengers are also served eggnog (I have personally used this recipe for years). The train attendant wears a Christmas hat and "the windows and tables were strung with holiday lights" (p. 112e). Later they drink screwdrivers and merlot. (p. 119e) Train diners were served "Shenandoah Valley baked chicken" and cheesecake. (p. 119e) Play "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, the one with Jim Carrey" (p. 121e) in the background of your meeting. Serve peanuts and pretzels like Tom munched on in the lounge car while drinking gin. (p. 121e) Serve Doritos and play poker like on p. 148e. Decorate with chess boards and pieces in reference to p. 155e. Passengers listened to Higgins tell stories of Jesse and Frank James and Billy the Kid while drinking coffee. Serve coffee in mugs with their pictures on the mugs. Decorate a Christmas tree like the passengers did with odds and ends including "fake jewelry to bubblegum baseball cards hung with rubber bands to plastic action figures". (p. 363e)

I enjoyed this book. It was relaxing and adventurous. I fell in love with all the characters and wanted them to succeed! One of the best Christmas stories! Truly enjoyed this book!

This was a sweet little Christmassy book that hit the spot, but it ended way too fast. I felt like the author wanted it to be over so rushed the last 1/4 of the story :/
3.5

Body count = 0 in this book which totally surprised me in a good way. Listening to this book was a joyful experience. I would love to travel on these Amtrak sleeper trains crossing the USA and enjoy the vibrancy of the colourful Attendants. The plot has its twists and turns to keep one guessing right to the very end.