
Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Toshikazu Kawaguchi Book Set
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Narrated by:
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Arina Ii
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Kevin Shen
About this listen
The first three books in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series packaged together.
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 around the world.
Meet more wonderful characters in the rest of the captivating Before the Coffee Gets Cold series:
- Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Book 1)
- Tales from the Cafe (Book 2)
- Before Your Memory Fades (Book 3)
- Before We Say Goodbye (Book 4)
- Before We Forget Kindness (Book 5)
- Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Boxed Set (Books 1-3)
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We'll Prescribe You a Cat
- By: Syou Ishida, E. Madison Shimoda - translator
- Narrated by: Naruto Komatsu, Natsumi Kuroda
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Tucked away in an old building at the end of a narrow alley in Kyoto, the Kokoro Clinic for the Soul can only be found by people who are struggling in their lives and genuinely need help. The mysterious clinic offers a unique treatment to those who find their way there: it prescribes cats as medication. Patients are often puzzled by this unconventional prescription, but when they “take” their cat for the recommended duration, they witness profound transformations in their lives, guided by the playful, empathetic, occasionally challenging yet endearing cats.
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perfection
- By Theasophia on 09-05-24
By: Syou Ishida, and others
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The Lantern of Lost Memories
- By: Sanaka Hiiragi
- Narrated by: Hanako Footman
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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This is the story of the peculiar and magical photo studio owned by Mr. Hirasaka, a collector of antique cameras. In the dimly lit interior, a paper background is pulled down in front of a wall, and in front of it stands a single, luxurious chair with an armrest on one side. On a stand is a large bellows camera. On the left is the main studio; photos can also be taken in the courtyard. Beyond its straightforward interior, however, is a secret. The studio is, in fact, the door to the afterlife, the place between life and death where those who have departed have a chance—one last time.
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Quiet, magical feels...a bit like Harry
- By SHES4AMWF on 03-18-25
By: Sanaka Hiiragi
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The Teahouse Fire
- By: Ellis Avery
- Narrated by: Barbara Caruso
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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The fates of two women, one American, one Japanese, become entwined in this sweeping novel of 19th century Japan on the cusp of radical change and Westernization. The Japanese tea ceremony, steeped in ritual, is at the heart of this story of an American girl adopted by Kyoto's most important tea master and raised as attendant and surrogate younger sister to his privileged daughter, Yukako.
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Captivating
- By Pamela on 04-18-07
By: Ellis Avery
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The Nakano Thrift Shop
- A Novel
- By: Hiromi Kawakami, Allison Markin Powell - translator
- Narrated by: Alexandra Bailey
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Objects for sale at the Nakano Thrift Shop appear as commonplace as the staff and customers that handle them. But like those same customers and staff, they hold many secrets. If examined carefully, they show the signs of innumerable extravagancies, of immeasurable pleasure and pain, and of the deep mysteries of the human heart.
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Entire book is a dialogue of he said she said
- By mz on 01-03-19
By: Hiromi Kawakami, and others
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The Goodbye Cat
- By: Hiro Arikawa, Philip Gabriel - translator
- Narrated by: George Blagden
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Seven cats weave their way through their owners’ lives, climbing, comforting, nestling, and sometimes just tripping everyone up in this uplifting collection of tales by international bestselling author Hiro Arikawa. Bursting with love and warmth, The Goodbye Cat exquisitely explores the cycle of life, from birth to death—as each of the seven stories explores how, in different ways, the steadiness and devotion of a well-loved cat never lets us down.
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Not my favorite
- By gise on 08-17-24
By: Hiro Arikawa, and others
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The Great Passage
- By: Shion Miura, Juliet Winters Carpenter - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Inspired as a boy by the multiple meanings to be found for a single word in the dictionary, Kohei Araki is devoted to the notion that a dictionary is a boat to carry us across the sea of words. But after thirty-seven years creating them at Gembu Books, it's time for him to retire and find his replacement. He discovers a kindred spirit in Mitsuya Majime - a young, disheveled square peg with a penchant for collecting antiquarian books and a background in linguistics - whom he swipes from his company's sales department.
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Engaging, unusual, fun
- By LGLH on 02-11-18
By: Shion Miura, and others
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The Cat Who Saved Books
- A Novel
- By: Sosuke Natsukawa
- Narrated by: Kevin Shen
- Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Bookish high school student Rintaro Natsuki is about to close the secondhand bookstore he inherited from his beloved bookworm grandfather. Then, a talking cat appears with an unusual request. The feline asks for — or rather, demands — the teenager’s help in saving books with him. The world is full of lonely books left unread and unloved, and the cat and Rintaro must liberate them from their neglectful owners.
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Transports you to fantastical realities…
- By Uriel Dana on 01-16-22
By: Sosuke Natsukawa
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Furbidden Fatality
- A Catskills Pet Rescue Mystery, Book 1
- By: Deborah Blake
- Narrated by: Hollis McCarthy
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Kari Stuart's life is going nowhere - until she unexpectedly wins the lottery. The 29-year-old instant multimillionaire is still mulling plans for her winnings when rescuing a bossy black kitten leads her to a semi-abandoned animal shelter. They need the cash - Kari needs a purpose. But the dilapidated rescue is literally going to the dogs with a pending lawsuit, hard-to-adopt animals, and too much unwanted attention from the town's dog warden. When the warden turns up dead outside the shelter's dog kennels, Kari finds herself up a creek without a pooper-scooper.
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Approved by Harry Dresden
- By Christopher T. Malone on 11-22-21
By: Deborah Blake
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Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop
- By: Hwang Bo-reum, Shanna Tan - translator
- Narrated by: Rosa Escoda
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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Yeongju is burned out. With her high-flying career, demanding marriage, and busy life in Seoul, she knows she should feel successful, but all she feels is drained. Yet an abandoned dream nags at her, and in a leap of faith, she leaves her old life behind. Quitting her job and divorcing her husband, Yeongju moves to a small residential neighborhood outside the city, where she opens the Hyunam-dong Bookshop.
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Really resonated
- By Aebell on 04-18-24
By: Hwang Bo-reum, and others
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There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job
- By: Kikuko Tsumura, Polly Barton - translator
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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A young woman walks into an employment agency and requests a job that has the following traits: It’s close to her home, and it requires no reading, no writing, and, ideally, very little thinking. Her first gig - watching the hidden-camera feed of an author suspected of storing contraband goods - turns out to be inconvenient. Her next gives way to the supernatural: announcing advertisements for shops that mysteriously disappear. As she moves from job to job, it becomes increasingly apparent that she's not searching for the easiest job at all but something altogether more meaningful.
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I LOVED it
- By Rose on 09-29-21
By: Kikuko Tsumura, and others
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Curiosity Thrilled the Cat
- A Magical Cats Mystery
- By: Sofie Kelly
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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When librarian Kathleen Paulson moved to Mayville Heights, Minnesota, she had no idea that two strays would nuzzle their way into her life. Owen is a tabby with a catnip addiction and Hercules is a stocky tuxedo cat who shares Kathleen's fondness for Barry Manilow. But beyond all the fur and purrs, there's something more to these felines. When murder interrupts Mayville's Music Festival, Kathleen finds herself the prime suspect.
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Promising "Cozy" Series
- By Chalis on 07-11-14
By: Sofie Kelly
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If Cats Disappeared from the World
- A Novel
- By: Genki Kawamura
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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The postman’s days are numbered. Estranged from his family, living alone with only his cat, Cabbage, to keep him company, he was unprepared for the doctor’s diagnosis that he has only months to live. But before he can tackle his bucket list, the Devil appears to make him an offer: In exchange for making one thing in the world disappear, our narrator will get one extra day of life. And so begins a very bizarre week....
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I couldn't finish this
- By 5thBusiness on 01-27-22
By: Genki Kawamura
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Yeonnam-Dong’s Smiley Laundromat
- A Novel
- By: Kim Jiyun, Shanna Tan - translator
- Narrated by: Winson Ting
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Situated at the heart of a rapidly gentrifying district of Seoul, the Yeonnam-dong Smiley Laundromat is a place where the extraordinary stories of ordinary residents unfold. It is already a haven of tranquility and reflection for locals, but when someone leaves a notebook behind, the laundromat becomes a place that brings people together. One by one, customers start jotting down candid diary entries, opening their hearts and inviting acts of kindness from neighbors who were once just faces in the crowd.
By: Kim Jiyun, and others
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I Am a Cat
- By: Soseki Natsume, Aiko Ito - translator, Graeme Wilson - translator
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 21 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Soseki Natsume's comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat, satirizes the foolishness of upper-middle class Japanese society during the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten who comments on the follies and foibles of the people around him. A classic of Japanese literature, I Am a Cat is one of Soseki's best-known novels. Considered by many as the greatest writer in modern Japanese history, Soseki's I Am a Cat is a classic novel sure to be enjoyed for years to come.
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Great performance!
- By mz on 04-03-20
By: Soseki Natsume, and others
uplifting without being overly sentimental
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Very deep
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very profound, lost in translation?
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interesting concept
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Good
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The characters
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The narration for Book One was quite somber. While Book Two's narration was more upbeat, it was a bit off-putting when recreating female voices. Both performances were good.
I must disclose that this author has discovered a formula for storywriting. If you seek fireworks, do not look here. The repetition is comforting to me, but may appear cliché to others.
formulaic, but cozy
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The book set was good.
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Beautiful, tearful, lovely
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Before the coffee gets cold
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