The Weekly Pour: The Midnight Train by Matt Haig
We may not have our doors open just yet — but that has not stopped us from reading. If anything, it's given us more time to do exactly that.
We're The Book Lounge: a group of friends — two sisters, a native Idahoan, and a Florida transplant — who grew up lost in the magic of bookstore aisles and decided Meridian needed a place like this. A fiction-focused haven. A living room away from home. A spot where you can sink into a great story with a great drink and feel like you belong. We're coming soon to 33 E. Idaho Ave. in Meridian, and we cannot wait to open these doors.
In the meantime, we're doing what we do best: talking about books. Welcome to The Weekly Pour — our ongoing series pairing new fiction releases with drinks from our carefully curated menu. Each week, we pick a new release we're excited about and a beverage we think matches its soul. This week, we're boarding The Midnight Train with Matt Haig.
About the Book
When your life flashes before your eyes — where would you stop? No one can change the past, but the Midnight Train can take you there. For Wilbur, his best days were with Maggie, the love of his life. On their honeymoon in Venice. Before he gave it all away. He wishes he could go back and live differently — but to do so risks everything.
A magical, time-travelling love story, set in the world of The Midnight Library.
Matt Haig — the internationally bestselling author behind The Midnight Library, How to Stop Time, and Reasons to Stay Alive — returns with a novel that is as tender as it is imaginative. The Midnight Train is a standalone story, though devoted readers of The Midnight Library will delight in a very special cameo appearance. Told in Haig's signature short, sharp chapters (some just a paragraph long), the novel is easy to fall into and impossible to put down. It is, at its heart, a meditation on regret, devotion, and what it means to truly love someone.
Early readers have called it romantic in the purest sense of the word — an emotional, inspirational, beautifully tender drama about second chances. One of the most anticipated books of 2026, it's already earned a spot on reading lists across the country.
Perfect For Fans Of:The Midnight Library, The Life Impossible and How to Stop Time by Matt Haig, The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George, The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, A Man called Ove by Fredrik Backman, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.
Why We Love It
The Midnight Train is everything we love about fiction at The Book Lounge. It sparks your imagination, stirs your soul, and leaves you thinking about your own life long after you've closed the last page. It's the kind of book that starts conversations — and we live for those conversations.
Haig has a rare gift: he writes about the hardest, most universal human emotions — regret, grief, the roads not taken — and makes them feel warm rather than heavy. The Midnight Train is not a sad book. It is a hopeful one. And honestly? After a long week, that's exactly what we all need.
This is our top pick for book clubs this season. The episodic structure makes it incredibly easy to discuss chapter by chapter, and the central question — if you could relive your most meaningful moments, would you? — will keep your group talking well past last call.
This Week’s Pour: Cinder 2022 Syrah — From Our Menu
Every week, we match our featured book with a drink from our planned menu of local Idaho wines, craft beers, and beverages. We've been building this menu with intention — local partnerships, quality over quantity, and drinks that feel right for a night in with a good book.
For The Midnight Train, we knew immediately which bottle belonged on the pairing list. We're pairing this novel with the Cinder 2022 Syrah — and here's why it works so beautifully. The Midnight Train takes place in the liminal hours — in the hazy, dreamlike space between past and present, between the life you lived and the life you might have lived. It is both dark and luminous, both melancholic and full of warmth. Cinder's 2022 Syrah mirrors that duality perfectly.
Cinder Wines is an Idaho gem, crafting exceptional wines in the high desert of the Snake River Valley, and their Syrah is one of the most expressive bottles on our menu. Deep garnet in color, it opens with aromas of dark cherry, blackberry, smoked meat, and a whisper of violet. On the palate, it's full and structured — rich dark fruit, cracked black pepper, and a long, warm finish that lingers like a memory you can't quite let go.
Not a wine drinker? We're also planning to carry the Milk Truck Latte Stout from Mother Earth Brewing — dark, layered, and unexpectedly comforting. We think it would make an equally gorgeous companion to this novel.
How to Get Your Copy
The Midnight Train by Matt Haig is available now — and you don't have to wait for us to open to get your hands on it. You can order through our Bookshop.org storefront and support us as an independent bookseller even before we officially open our doors. Audiobooks are available through Libro.fm as well — both are linked at thebookloungeid.com.
Our suggestion? Order your copy, find a Cinder Syrah at your local bottle shop, pour yourself a generous glass, and get reading. Then come find us when we open — we'll want to talk about it.
Come Find Us — We're Almost Ready
We're putting the finishing touches on our space at 33 E. Idaho Ave., Suite 120 in Meridian, and we are so close to opening day. Follow us on Instagram @thebookloungeid and on Facebook for opening announcements, event previews, and more Weekly Pour posts like this one.
Have you already read The Midnight Train? We'd love to hear your thoughts. Drop us a DM, leave a comment, or send us a message through our website. Our favorite conversations start with: 'I just finished a book and I have feelings.' That is exactly what we are here for.
Meridian needed a place like this. We're building it. And we can't wait to share it with you.
Happy Reading (and Sipping!)
The Book Lounge Crew
