Ahoy there me mateys! This book was recommended to me by a member of the crew. It is a Japanese work translated by Geoffrey Trousselot. The story takes place in a café in Tokyo where urban legend says ye can go back in time. This story follows four people who visit the café.
The book is a bit unusual in that the plot consists of four sections which could be read as short stories but intertwine and enrich each other when read together. The time travel in this book was excellent due to all of the parameters of how the time travel works. Characters in the book admit that there are so many rules, why would anyone bother?
Because really the time travel isn’t the point. The loveliness stems from the cast of characters who visit the café and how they interact with each other. Also how the details of their lives unfold are wonderful. In reading this, the writing itself seems simple but the more I read the more delighted I was about how complex the themes and situations were underneath. I really wanted to know more about every single person.
It was close to a five-star read for me. The ending was a bit too woo for me but it is a personal preference thing. There are two more collections by the author about other visitors to the café. I will likely read them at some point. Arrrr!
Goodreads had this to say about the novel (shortened by me cause spoilers):
What would you change if you could go back in time?
In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.
In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer . . .
But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .
To visit the author’s Goodreads page go to:
Toshikazu Kawaguchi – Author
To buy the novel please visit:
before the coffee gets cold – Book
To add to Goodreads go to:
Yer Ports for Plunder List
Captain's Quarters 
I really enjoyed this one, too. I’ve also read and enjoyed the second, and I’m going to be starting the third as well. I especially like the flow of these books. I think the translation really works in them, and I love seeing the difference in storytelling style.
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So glad to know that ye did like the second. That bodes well because of our similar tastes. I have quite a few books I need to complete first though. I do wonder if the Japanese movie was any good.
x The Captain
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I didn’t realize it was a movie! I shouldn’t be surprised, though. It has the potential to be a really good movie.
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I had an idea for a novella along these times a while back. I’m tempted to give it a read as this really does sound like a charming little book
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It is charming. I hope ye do read this one. It needs more love outside of Japan.
x The Captain
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