5 stars for Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold book 1) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi |《Reread》.
I have read the first three novels in this series before I decide to recommend it to a Japanese boss-turned-friend. That was easily two years ago, or perhaps more as we sometimes lose track of time. I remember I envied him at that time for being able to read the original Japanese books when I can only read the English translated version where inevitably meanings get lost through translation. It turned out that this Japanese friend enjoys the story so much that he finished reading all five books (published and available) in succession.
In an unexpected twist of events, the one who recommends the books becomes the one who is being recommended. He strongly recommends that I continue to read the books and shares with me that the latest book 5 Before We Forget Kindness published in 2024 is his favourite. Well, where favourites are concerned, his and mine are polar opposites. My favourite was and still is book 1 Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Back then, I felt that book two and three did not live up to my expectations and the stories turned confusing after a while what with the time travelling - back to the past and forward to the future. That was the reason I did not follow up with book 4 in the series. That was Year 2022 then. Should I decide to continue, I will have to read from book 1 again. I simply cannot imagine myself picking up book 4 and start reading when so much of the story and characters have been lost on me.
Re-reading a book feels like visiting an old friend or a familiar old location. I sure am glad to revisit cafe Funiculi Funicula, the time-travelling cafe located in Tokyo with a unique name. I stand by the 5-star rating I gave to this book back in 2022. After I finish reading this book, I felt exactly the same as how I felt three years ago, that is, all I want to do is to visit one such cafe and be a regular there. If only such a cafe is in existence...
What will you do if you are given the chance to return to the past?
Who will you want to meet?
Publisher: Picador; Main Market edition
Publication date: 19 Sep 2019
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If you could go back, who would you want to meet?
In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee—the chance to travel back in time.
Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of making that journey. But time travel isn’t so simple, and there are rules that must be followed. Most important, the trip can last only as long as it takes for the coffee to get cold.
Heartwarming, wistful, mysterious and delightfully quirky, Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s internationally bestselling novel explores the age-old question: What would you change if you could travel back in time?
*Blurb from FantasticFiction*
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