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A review by renee_reads_books
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.5
I finished Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi last night. It’s this month’s pick for my work book club. It’s only 275 pages, so I read it in two sittings. Also, it destroyed me.
In a strange little basement cafe in Tokyo, a ghost sits at the same table reading a book all day, every day. Once a day she gets up to use the bathroom. When she does, customers can sit in her seat to travel back in time.
They can go back to any day. They can only visit people who have been to the cafe, though. They can’t leave the chair. Nothing they say or do in the past will change the future. The outcome will still be the same. So really, it’s not a chance to change things. It’s a chance to either experience them with more appreciation or say the things they wish they’d said.
And they can only stay in the past for as long as it takes them to drink a cup of coffee before it goes cold.
The book contains 4 parts, all with the same characters. But each part tells a different story and sees a different character travel through time — and all for very different reasons.
If it weren’t for book club, I probably wouldn’t have picked this up. But I’m glad my coworkers chose it. This is the first in a series, but I don’t know if I’m emotionally prepared to read more of them yet, haha.
Recommended if you like time travel, sentimental tales, translations, and/or sobbing. 4.5/5.
In a strange little basement cafe in Tokyo, a ghost sits at the same table reading a book all day, every day. Once a day she gets up to use the bathroom. When she does, customers can sit in her seat to travel back in time.
They can go back to any day. They can only visit people who have been to the cafe, though. They can’t leave the chair. Nothing they say or do in the past will change the future. The outcome will still be the same. So really, it’s not a chance to change things. It’s a chance to either experience them with more appreciation or say the things they wish they’d said.
And they can only stay in the past for as long as it takes them to drink a cup of coffee before it goes cold.
The book contains 4 parts, all with the same characters. But each part tells a different story and sees a different character travel through time — and all for very different reasons.
If it weren’t for book club, I probably wouldn’t have picked this up. But I’m glad my coworkers chose it. This is the first in a series, but I don’t know if I’m emotionally prepared to read more of them yet, haha.
Recommended if you like time travel, sentimental tales, translations, and/or sobbing. 4.5/5.