If you haven't heard of Before the Coffee Gets Cold, you're in for a treat! This series is perfect for this winter if you're looking for a cozy (and emotional) book that has bits of magical realism, discovery, and coffee.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold is written by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, and is currently a 5 book adventure. The subsequent books are titled: Tales from the Cafe, Before Your Memory Fades, Before We Say Goodbye, and Before We Forget Kindness.
The series follows customers coming to this cafe for a specific purpose: they want to visit someone who has previously been to the cafe. The twist? They are visiting the person in the past or the future through the cafe's magic. They sit at a specific table once, a specific person pours them coffee, and they have until the coffee gets cold to talk to the person they want.
Each novel in the series has four stories that can be interconnected or stand-alone. The stories each have their own focus on a new character and their plights, which keeps the stories refreshing and immersive. My friend and I even discussed recently the impressive way that the series is able to continue to reinvent itself, even if it uses the same format.
Toshikazu Kawaguchi captures the close-knit, cozy feeling of being a regular at a cafe. The characters become familiar, the people who work at the cafe can easily be recognized, and the stories carry connection. These stories also carry emotion because they are often themed around loss, grief, regret, healing, reconnecting, and closure.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a great read to cozy up around the fire because it will make you wish you were at a cafe, evoke a connection to the various characters, and might make you reflect on your own stories.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold is available through Pan Macmillan