Toshikazu KawaguchiBefore the Coffee Gets Cold*

I just loved the book! It's a simple novel that captures human feelings 💙. The story was kind of different like other novels and I loved the setting of the story( cafe) ,and the events taking place, if you are looking for a variety story it's a must read!

"Before the Coffee Gets Cold" is a beautifully crafted book, perfect for those who enjoy introspective and heartwarming stories. Its unique take on time travel and its focus on personal connections will linger with readers long after the last page is turned. Whether enjoyed over coffee or not, this book offers a meaningful experience for anyone who's ever wanted to go back and change a moment in their past.

This was my first time exploring the time travel genre and god all the 4 chapters were so emotional for me from losing your loved one to dying for your loved one. God these japanese authors really do make me cry 😭But overall it was indeed a good read, would definitely recommend to first time readers!

Absorbing storyline, told in a slow place. Overly narrative settings.

Every story is closely knitted with intricacies of characters that keeps you hooked onto them.

This book has been all over Instagram specially for January in Japan. I did not read too many reviews before jumping into it with my buddy reader and mostly, I got the impression that people were loving it. I enjoyed the book.I've always been fascinated by the idea of time travel. As a child I would think about all the mistakes I won't repeat if I could tell my younger self. Today, especially after having read the Midnight Library by Matt Haig, I am quite certain that I would make most of those choices again and that is why the rules of the the book's Time Travel made great sense to me. Whatever you do, the present does not change.There are four short stories of people trying to meet somebody from the past for their own mental peace. At the end, the book fully shows the message the author has been trying to communicate all along. Which is living fully in the present with a light heart.Simple language, a tad repetitive occasionally, because I wanted to skip certain parts where the cafe staff were conversing. The events and drama was gripping though I didn't find all the characters compelling, maybe because too much effort was put into making us understand them? The very Japanese feeling in the book made it an interesting reading experience for me. Unusual story and quaint setting.

This book was on my TBR for a long time. Finally, I read it on a sick day and almost finished it in one sitting.The writing style is so simple that I got immersed in the very first chapter. I also, liked Kawaguchi's style of playwright, where the characters are dialogue based.Compared to the sci-fi aspect of time travelling, this book is more about realism. Magical realism, to be precise.Even if time travel was for a brisk moment, that involved multiple rules, people would still want to go back to the past. Even though they couldn't change anything in the present except change their heart.The importance of the simple joys that impact our life. The essence of the moments with the people around us. Small things, that we often fail to notice, have been beautifully highlighted by the author.This heartwarming read, although a bit slow, overwhelmed me. I can't wait to return to this basement cafe in the rest of the series.

Loved the book. The plot moves very smoothly and make book very enjoyable. The description of setup and characters of the different stories seems spot on