#TheChristmasTrain – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint Reviews – November Recap – Is Your December a Ho Ho Ho or a Hum Bug?

November wasted no time getting us right into the winter mood with an early snow and frigid temps. Of course, we celebrate Thanksgiving and that’s usually about the time Mother Nature rears back and blows an ill wind. We got a weather break both coming and going to southern Illinois to celebrate with our daughter and enjoyed dinner with our son as well, although our granddaughter and her family were not able to join us with our great-grandchildren. Fortunately, they are not so far that there won’t be other opportunities. Unfortunately, it appears a four-hour auto ride is harder on us than it used to be.

Hoping to get a good Christmas pic of Punkin to post, but nothing successful so far. In the meantime, our son got into the mood with his dog, Cooper, whom I’ve written about before. We think she’s part mini-Aussie and Jack Russell. The mini-Aussie part comes out in boundless energy and smarts and the rest with personality and more smarts. Also—it appears she is photogenic! I used to take yearly Christmas pics of the family until the idea was met with groans all round. Now, everyone is scattered around the country. Not so easy to gather for a family photo anymore.

Reading and reviewing is hit and miss—it’s that time of year. Thank heaven for audiobooks! We reviewed a total of thirteen books in November—six in audiobook form, with the CE contributing three (ebooks). As always, the major source of our books is the library (audiobooks as well as ebooks), NetGalley, author and publisher requests. The links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase information.

Rosepoint Publishing - November Recap

The Gift from Aelius by Michael Colon (CE review)
Soaring Above by Amanda Hughes
Dogged Pursuit by David Rosenfelt (audiobook)
Party of Liars by Kelsey Cox (audiobook)
Greetings from Lavender Valley by Tammy L Grace
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger (Audiobook-Bookclub)
A Walk Among Heroes by James McDevitt (CE review – 5*)
Muddled Through by Barbara Ross
Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben (audiobook)
Grid Zero by Andrew Diamond (CE review)
Judge and Jury by Stephen Penner
The Christmas Train by David Baldacci (audiobook)
The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner (audiobook)

Favorite Book of the Month

The CE gave five stars to A Walk Among Heroes and in fairness must award the favorite to his five stars. It was a good month for ebooks as well as audiobooks!

Favorite for November – A Walk Among Heroes

My Reading Challenges page…sorry still didn’t get it caught up. I swear, I’m not sure how I got so far behind.

I’m trying to promote my posts more quickly with social media as well as blog hopping. The Goodreads landing page now shows 173 books read of a goal of 150, so I’m at 115% of the challenge. A JavaScript problem, I guess, is that the code stopped at 136, and won’t ever show I’ve achieved the 2025 goal. That will impact a number of other little Goodreads goals. I’ve actually achieved their little ribbons for every month (last being November, of course). Assuming December, that should open to other ribbon goals, including the Grand Slam and Nailed It. Have you checked your Goodreads Achievement ribbons lately?

As you no doubt noticed, I tried this year to include some Christmas reads, audiobooks, and movies this year—something cheery for the holidays. Not easy, as I usually avoid those. And I actually found a couple I enjoyed! Hope you did as well.

Thank you again for your visits and comments. I always appreciate your comments and I’m trying to respond faster. Keep those likes and comments coming—and I thank you for each and every one!

Have a great week!

Christmas Read – Christmas Movies – #HolidayFiction – #contemporaryfiction – #comedy

Thoughts

Yes, this is the last list of Christmas favorites for the season and then I’ll leave it up to you.

Today I’m presenting two: One is a novel turned into a movie and the other a surprisingly sweet Christmas movie that the CE picked out. (Of course, he is the romantic in the house, so you might suspect it’ll be predictable. It is.)

Christmas Book

The Christmas Train by David Baldacci
October 28, 2014
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ASIN: ‎ B001GUXJN8

What, you say? A Baldacci Christmas book? Yes, and you know I couldn’t resist requesting this one from my favorite library as I know and enjoy Baldacci books. Well, this one doesn’t disappoint.

It’s Christmas. Don’t expect it to be a heavy thriller. It’s easy reading. Lots of engaging characters from the wacky old lady to the main character, Tom Langdon, a journalist riding the rails of Twain’s historical account.

This is a disillusioned journalist (ex-war correspondent) who is trying to get to LA by Christmas to see his lady but aggravatingly enough, runs into the one he really loves, coincidentally on the same train. (Yeah, I know…but you have to have a little romance.)

I might have enjoyed a bit more on the scenery—it was a fascinating route—but loved the info on trains. Interestingly enough, it’s also my second Christmas review with a train as the first character, Meet Me at the Christmas Train Parade, the first.

It’s supposed to be a feel-good story—it’s the holidays. So it’s full of whimsical characters, a predictable plot, nice pace, and GULP! An avalanche! (Spoiler: The movie? It’s Hallmark. No one will die.)

I kept having to remind myself that this is the same Baldacci who writes “those” thrillers. Who knew? Add this one to your holiday TBR list. Read it—or watch the movie. (I must admit I haven’t seen the movie yet, but that is now on my holiday to be watched list.) So it’s a light-hearted romp on a holiday train—read it for the fun, the characters, and the little mystery that is satisfactorily solved at the end. We do love our happily ever afters!

The Movie – The Christmas Train

November 25, 2017
Starring Dermot Mulroney as Tom Langdon and Kimberly Williams-Paisley as Eleanor Carter with Danny Glover as Max Powers

The Christmas Train – available on the Hallmark Channel as well as streaming services (except Netflix) and subscription services such as Amazon Prime Video, Ruku, and Hulu.

The Movie – The Family Holiday

December 4, 2007
Starring Dave Coulier as Donald “Doc’ Holiday and Alexa Fischer as Elizabeth Rogers

This is supposed to be a “romantic” family comedy about a con man who owes money to the mob. Here’s the rub. He’s supposed to come into a twenty-million-dollar inheritance but must prove he has a family and is now an upright citizen. Oh, gawd…

Don’t look at me—this is a CE pick. I told you he was a romantic! So, how did I manage to get through the hour and a half movie? Really, I’m not sure, but I found myself hooked. It was the kids.

Must have been!

No, really, these are two cute kids. And a dog. yes! The dog!

Entirely predictable: Pretty woman comes to audition for a supposed nanny position, stays for… Well, now she’s stuck. The kids are cute and have more sense. The boy wants to split, but the little girl wants a family. And he needs the 20 mil.

Will this tug at your heartstrings? You betcha. Just look at those eyes. (Yes, the dog.)

This is one you can sit down with your own kids and watch. Silly, predictable, simple, a trope you’ve seen before. But the characters are sweet. Except for Doc of course. His transformation to family man is a bit unbelievable, but, hey, it’s Christmas. Miracles do happen.