A lovely sequel to 'Before The Coffee Gets Cold' (and it's better to have read the first book already to understand more of the context). I enjoyed this set of four stories as much as the previous book, but still don't get on so well with the linguistic style, which just doesn't flow as much as I'd like; for me, the style gets in the way of the storytelling a bit too much. Still worth a read for anyone who enjoyed the first book.

Sequel to the novel Takes from the Cafe. This time we're back to the Funiculi Funicula time-travelling cafe and there are four stories to create one interweaving narrative.

The books I believe were written as plays as they certainly read that way and you can imagine people entering stage left etc. The premise is interesting and there's not much movement and action so it would be a good play with all of the action being in the premise and the characterisation.

It's very Japanese even though it's only vaguely set in Tokyo.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

After loving Toshikazu Kawaguchi's first installment, "Before the Coffee gets Cold", I was absolutely ecstatic to hear the next installments were getting translated, and even more thrilled to be approved for an e-arc!!

The second book in this series transports us back to our favourite little cafe in Tokyo. We meet some familiar faces, but we also meet new ones too. In "Tales from the Cafe", we are faced with the deep, philosophical question of;
"If you can't change the past, why bother visiting at all?". Kawaguchi explores this idea through the different patron's stories.

Diving back into this book, felt like coming home to a warm hug, Kawaguchi does such an excellent job at making the reader feel as if they are an onlooker in our small cafe, watching the time-travelling patrons and being fully involved with their emotional journeys.

5/5 ⭐

Lovely follow on from "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" exactly what I needed as I was left wanting more from the first book. such sweet little stories, very imaginative, full of Japanese culture, warm and inviting, like a little hug in a book.

This is the second book set in the Funiculi Funicula time-travelling cafe and follows the format of its predecessor, Before the Coffee Gets Cold: 4 short stories that weave together to create a complete narrative.

Translated from its native Japanese, author Toshikazu Kawaguchi originally wrote Before the Coffee Gets Cold as a play for the theatre and after its success on stage, it was converted into novels. You can really feel that stage setting and direction through the book. This is nice as it feels very contained and intense, but on the flip side there seems to be a lot of repetition, which you might not notice as much watching it, but as a reader, it does make you feel like the author is very much hammering his point home.

Familiar characters that we met in the first book pop up here, such as the cafe owner Nagare and waitress Kazu, who we learn a lot more about, which was lovely. We also, interestingly discover the origins of the mysterious woman who reads her book all day, every day in the cafe…

I like how Tales from the Café develops the character stories from the first book, while seamlessly dropping in the new tales of the people who visit the cafe to travel to the past (or future) and lay their own demons to rest.

I was emotionally taken in by this book. The power of truly understanding your feelings and allowing yourself to be happy are explored here. Guilt and grief are such heavy emotions and it looks at how the smallest moment or conversation can alter a person’s path.

Tales from the Café can be read as a stand-alone, but I think you would get far more from it by reading Before the Coffee Gets Cold first. On reflection, while it was interesting to learn more about the key characters and see how the story developed, I think I enjoyed book one slightly more as a reading experience BUT this was an emotional read with power. A wonderful sequel.

As good as the first book minus the surprise.

Second books are always harder. Here are similar characters; the same set, the café location and readers aware of the format and the emotional tags.
I didn’t cry but others will continue to weep buckets.
The tag line: “If you could go back, who would you want to meet?”

The book is more of the same with a special café where you can return to the past or visit the future. Four people in book two, embark on these personal journeys knowing they cannot change events but they have a reason, a need and given the opportunity will travel through time for one special meeting.

Yet in a deeper outcome, you learn about another country’s culture and beliefs. Each event then doesn’t pan out as you expect. There is a sense of drama, the unexpected reactions and a new reality that enables you to grow emotionally. Not just in the release of tears, or the identification in your own life regarding missed loved ones, regrets and what ifs.
It is the author’s ability to bring, not just an empathetic response, but to show that life is for the living.
While we will continue to mourn those who have passed, have regrets about unfulfilled dreams and shared hopes, it can be liberating to face up to loss and see how others loved us.
What this book does, and what it has done for me is see behind the veil of grief and regrets. It places a hope and a meaning for life to continue with a firm direction.
This isn’t sentimental. It takes time travel beyond not being able to alter history, change the future or eliminate anyone’s gene pool.

No here is a traditional story about people, relationships and why family, friends and social dynamics make us human.
Each story brings something more to the equation, these are not formulaic tales on repeat. The concept grows and deepens one’s appreciation of a writer who by his ideas and story craft liberates the reader from just a cerebral response, to an emotional and heartfelt reality.
I loved these books and urge you to read them - the English speaking world is blessed for having these unique stories available to read. Share that opportunity and delight in this reading pleasure.

I adored the first book, and I feel the same about this one. I love Japanese translations, I find the way the Japanese write is just so soothing, and beautiful to be honest.

I was so happy when I discovered there was a follow up book. This obviously follows along the same lines, but of course we already know the rules, so we dive straight into meeting more people who want to go back in time.

As usual, it’s heartbreaking, and just lovely…we also get to know more about the cafe owners, which is lovely.

Overall, if you loved the first one then you will love this one. I do think you need to read the first one before this though, although you’d understand it on its own, you need the whole experience.

My thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

I loved this book. You never knew where the person who sat at the table was going to take you. Absolutely loved this book.

What an utterly intriguing premise for a novel – a coffee shop that allows you to travel back to a specific moment in time. But there are some very strict conditions applied to this unique opportunity. With a harsh penalty in you fail to comply.
It was with great excitement that I received a copy of Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Café
(Before the Coffee Gets Cold #2) by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, (translated by Geoffrey Trousselot). The story takes place in a café in Tokyo with a central cast of Kazu, Kei and Nagare present in each of the four stories. In Each story we are introduced to a different character who wishes to return to a moment in their past. Although, the storyline is simple and also childlike at times, the actual objective behind their reason for ‘traveling through time’ is far more complex and thought provoking.
For example, the man who goes back to see his best friend who died 22 years ago, or the son who was unable to attend his own mother’s funeral. There is a simplicity in the beauty of the stories and the emotion felt by the characters. And although a quick and easy read, this is the type of storyline that stays in your mind and heart, long after finishing the book.
Simply beautiful.

Ah ! this was like slipping into your favourite pair of slippers !
I adored "Before The Coffee Gets Cold" and this was like part 2 . Only a short novel telling us the tale of 4 more customers who get to travel in time .
Fabulous

Last year Toshikazu Kawaguchi released his debut novel Before The Coffee Gets Cold, a magical realism/sci-fi story about a cafe in Tokyo where customers can return to the past if they follow a set of very specific, very strict rules. You can read my review of Before The Coffee Gets Cold here. 

Kawaguchi is now back with his second book, Tales From the Cafe, a collection of short stories set inside the cafe, as he introduces us to different characters who visit the cafe to utilise its time travelling ability. And, as with the characters in his debut, each story is facing a difficult and deep question: if you can't change anything, is there any point in going back?

This book deals with serious and heart wrenching topics. It features people wanting to say goodbye to old friends that they never got the chance to, sons who missed their mothers funerals, people who just want one last chance before they're able to move on with their lives. And Kawaguchi treats each topic with sensitivity and care. This gives the result that even though we don't meet each new chracter for very long by the time they're introduced and then swept away before the next short story, they're as well rounded and detailed as if the whole story was about them. Each individual character is clearly the main character of their own narrative and that's something that I often find lacking in short stories, where there isn't the time or the word count to flesh them out that much. But Kawaguchi does an amazing job, and it's not at the expense of the plot development either. 

There were times in Before The Coffee Gets Cold where the book was overly repetetive. With each new character wanting to travel back in time, they had to be read the rules surrounding their journey. When this happens five or six times in a book, as a reader you don't need to read it more than once or twice. In this book however, Kawaguchi deals with that better. There's still a full explanation, and it is reiterated, but I also fully noted an instance of 'so and so relayed the rules and asked if they had any questions' or something similar, which is a perfectly adequate way to do that. 

While each story is touching in its own way, each short tale does follow the same recipe. There's a sad person, mourning someone from their past. They want to go back and see, but they can't change the past! So, what do they do? While it was novel and intriguing in the beginning, I would have liked to have seen something a little bit different as the story went on, something to just mix it up a little bit. 

Therefore, I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars. I did enjoy it (and apparently there is a third in the series too, so hopefully that gets translated soon!), but it was a little repetetive. I'm also not the biggest fan of short stories anyway - I find them hard to get into, but this was so much easier as there was continuity with the characters and the cafe. 

If you read and enjoyed Before The Coffee Gets Cold I really think you'll also enjoy this! It's the perfect accompanying book to go along with the original!

Who would of thought it possible to top the first of Before The Coffee Gets Cold? It is possible and this is it! This one continue on with another four stories each threaded with the same cafe staff/owners. While reading this I myself was transported to the cafe at a table watching it all unfold. I am a true fan of this author and am now hoping that there will be more to come. I feel i need to know the story of the newest table "ghost"
Fantastic tales! I really loved this!

I found this novel magical as I did it’s predecessor. However I did get the Japanese names muddled and would love to see this transposed in to a New York coffee shop.

The second book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series features four more stories of individuals travelling through time for a limited time via a particular chair in a particular cafe. This is another case of my requesting a sequel without reading the first one, I assumed as its short stories that wouldn't be a massive problem and I didn't feel like I missed too much by not having read the first book but I think its probably best to read them in the series as you'll probably understand the cafe employees better as characters.

I really love the premise of this, time travel is always an interesting one but what I really enjoy are the rules surrounding it in this particular book. It really had me thinking, with such limitations on your visit to the past or future, would I bother?

There is one more book in this series which looks like its not been translated into English yet; I'm hoping I'll be able to get hold of the first one, catch back up and then hopefully book three will be available.

This was an interesting concept and quirky in the way of Japanese stories in translation. The difference in sentence structure actually serves to place the reader in a Japanese coffee shop.

Apparently it's a second book of a series, but it stands alone just fine! The general premise is that you can travel back in time in a particular coffee shop, though you can't change anything. You are given a cup of coffee and have until the coffee goes cold, at which point you will be pulled back to your natural time. A very original time travel concept!

The character development was good and reminded me of my experience of the Japanese people when I visited Tokyo many years ago. The stories were charming and entertaining for those who enjoy Japanese media.

I was delighted to be able to read this second instalment of 'Before the Coffee Gets Cold'. It takes up from the last book with just as much charm and poignancy, and is just as beautifully written. Each individual story stands alone whilst being delicately cocooned and embraced by the continuing narrative of the family who run the cafe. It really is a winning combination.

I was nervous about reading this follow up to Before the Coffee Gets Cold as that was one of my favourite books last year. I needn't have worried.

Yes, this book provides more of the same but that’s no bad thing. Reading through the stories of people who choose to travel to the past of the future really makes you think about who you would go back and see if you could, even if you knew your travelling couldn’t change the outcome.

Q quick, thought provoking read.

I need to read the first book now!
A clever concept beautifully realised, this series of insights into the lives of people who just wish they could have the chance to say one thing to someone important will grip you and stay with you.
Gently written, each character is carefully sketched out, with those that we meet throughout the novel being coloured in further with each chapter. Cleverly, the author doesn't restrict the story to each journey back in time, but also gives us deeper insight into the cafe's inhabitants and their own griefs and breakthroughs. Despite the concept - time-travel - none of it seems unlikely or ridiculous and it's no sci-fi novel either.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold was an instant staff favourite (and store bestseller) when it came out and it was such an honour to have my heart ripped out by Toshikazu Kawaguchi!! Absolutely perfect timing that just when it all healed up, the second book in the series would come out and yank the damn thing out again.

It was so nice to be back at Funiculi Funicula, I was sitting right there with them, which I think is the magic of this series - no explosions, car chases, deadly secrets etc, just us and our coffee. Turn your brain off and breathe!! I'm now aware that there's also a third book in the series which is yet to be translated so I'm just completely up and down emotionally at the moment.

Thank you so much for letting me read this, cannot wait to see this on the shelves :)

This is a follow up to the previous novel also titled Before the Coffee Gets Cold, and it sticks to the same premise. I read the first one, and really enjoyed the unique idea of a time travelling cafe and the lessons to be learned from doing so. It presents more as a collection of short stories, with different people going back to the past for various reasons. I like how each story provides an uplifting message about life and it’s challenges, and the people going through their own struggles in life require a little looking back to fully move forward to the future, and it’s interesting to see it presented in different scenarios.

However, my issues with this collection stems from the issues I had with the previous one: the writing isn’t great. It’s very clunky at times, and does a lot of telling. I’m not sure whether it’s a translation issue, or not, but it was distracting at times. If not, I did discover Kawaguchi is a playwright, which explains the need tell over show, so maybe it was the style. I can see this working much better as a play at times. It would be interesting to see a play version and to visualise the story in a unique way. Also, there is constant repetition going on, like how each person is told the rules in detail, but the reader has to go through it all again just to move on with the story. The flow was often disrupted by it.

I do believe the first collection was better, since it was new and intriguing, but if the first novel had you eager for more, then this is a great follow up. It’s a cosy read to help you pass a free evening, and gives you enough of a good and intriguing story to leave you satisfied.