Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Toshikazu Kawaguchi Book Set

By: Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Narrated by: Arina Ii, Kevin Shen

Length: 18 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

What would you do if you could travel back in time? Discover the internationally bestselling novels of Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, now a worldwide phenomenon and BookTok sensation, in this special new book set. Step inside Tokyo’s whimsical Café Funiculi Funicula and travel back in time with a cast of unforgettable characters, including:

• Before the Coffee Gets Cold: estranged sisters, a newly pregnant customer, and the wife of a man with early onset Alzheimer’s
• Tales from the Café: a detective with a gift, a son with regrets, and a man chasing “the one who got away”
• Before Your Memory Fades: a comedian with big dreams, a grieving sister, and childhood lovers

For new and longtime fans alike, this set is the perfect collection of heartwarming, uplifting tales that remind us we “don’t have to live burdened by regret” (New York Times). Translated from Japanese in the signature prose of Geoffrey Trousselot, each installment of this series brings new adventure that has captivated millions of readers and listeners around the world.

©2023 Toshikazu Kawaguchi (P)2023 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

very profound, lost in translation?

i wish this book were better translated/adapted. I'm half Japanese & when I was reading it, it was very Japanese-y... like everything about it... the characters' mannerisms, the way they speak & idk the more i think about it, maybe it was translated like that on purpose... idk. it was good, but I wish I could read & understand japanese writing & language... felt like I was missing something. anyway, worth the read especially if you're one to get "stuck" in the past & what ifs. also I think they could've chose better narrators.

uplifting without being overly sentimental

I am a big fan of Japanese authors and of Murakami in particular. There is a slower pace, and the magic part of the magical realism is fairly understated. The restraint gives force to the deep optimism present in this work.

The book set was good.

The narrator doesn’t know Japanese. And the young girl in the last chapters has an almost Southern US-accent which was distracting. Brian Nishi would have been the perfect narrator.

Beautiful, tearful, lovely

All these tales weave together perfectly. The idea of time travel was never so simple to understand. A pleasure to listen to.

Must Read

This is a book of profound healing. Just read and let it do it’s work on your spirit. The time travel effect also works on the reader!

Whimsical and fun

All 3 stories go right for the feels. It’s amazing to see how such a whimsical idea can be made into so many short stories. It is unfortunate that they’re only short stories (with an overarching narrative for some characters), but I do wish the characters from the first story in the second book showed up again.

All 3 books are wonderful, but the 2nd book is arguably the best. The concepts can get repetitive at times, due to how simple the overall concept is, but that doesn’t distract from the fact you want the characters to succeed. The story of Kae and Miki is charming and should remind you to call your mother.

The narration is fine. I don’t speak Japanese, but the narrator goes for the Osaka accent to sound more country. I doubt that’s accurate, but it isn’t distracting.

Easy comfort reads/listen

This series was enjoyable. I honesty wish Arina Li would’ve done more narrating. Heck, even narrate together with Kevin Shen!!

DNF-the last two books

I found this story to be depressing . The description of the cafe and all the people were repeated over and over again, just page filler. I cannot recommend this sad story. Another Japanese author, Michiko Aoyama-wrote an uplifting story called" what you are looking for is in the library" I was hoping this one was the same.

Before the coffee gets cold

A book that you need to read, have a combination of hope and love that some people need in grieving moments, love the narrative and how the life of the people at the cafe get connected through coffee.

The connection of the coffee shop and characters!

They are comforting and thought-provoking stories! I usually do not like time travel books…but this author made it so different and interesting. Everything has a reason.