Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series of Books - Sunday Salon

 

Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Healing fiction books

Post copied from my other book blog Book Dilettante (BookBirdDog)

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is the first of the five books in the series by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I have listed the books in reverse order. 

Genre: healing fiction

I have Before Your Memory Fades and Before We Forget Kindness, the third and fifth books. I think there is no need to read them in order as the stories are separate, but there are several coffeeshop workers who appear in all the books, so it might be useful to start with the first book, Before the Coffee Gets Cold. 

What is the series about? In each book, people visit a mysterious cafe, hoping to go back or forward in time for a very brief time. They are given a cup of steaming coffee  at a special table, are then transported to the past, and must return to the present time before their coffee gets cold. There are other strict rules for this to work, however.

I have read only a couple books in the series but I have found the themes - life lessons learned by the ones who time travel to meet loved ones. Relationships don't end with death, for example. Indecisiveness is self destructive. Each story gives a different lesson, and some show the dilemmas of having to make certain choices in life. 

Before We Forget Kindness has stories that explore Memories, Family Bonds, and Forgiveness. Before Your Memory Fades explores Grief, Healing, and Second Chances.

This next book is to be published May 2026

Comparable books with stories about people being helped in a magical place are the full moon coffee shop books include The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop by Takuya Asakura and the Full Moon Coffee Shop two-book series by Mai Mochizuki, which focuses on personal astrology.

 I was entertained by the books I've read so far in both series of books, and also intrigued by thoughtful stories that present life lessons as you read. 

What books are on your reading list now? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves 

Sunday Salon: Siblings, Stories, Magical Realism, and Grief

 Siblings at odds or working together

The Theory of (Not Quite) Everything by Kara Gnodde. Published in 2023 by Harper Paperbacks. NetGalley

Genre: romance, adult fiction

Serious minded math genius, Art, versus his sibling, the romantic Mimi. The siblings are united in the tragic loss of their parents, but Art is wary of Mimi's involvement with a new boyfriend, Frank, who happens to be a mathematician as well as a stargazer.

Which sibling will be right about Frank?

Trust Issues, published Jan. 28, 2025; Dutton/NetGalley.

Description: A conman chase novel - two adult siblings forced to play nice with each other in hopes of tracking down the man they believe killed their mother and ran off with their sizable inheritance.

The two try to work together to get to the bottom of their mother's death and collect their inheritance. 

Short stories

Praised for a poetic writing style, Helen Stancey first published The Madonna of the Pool, her short story collection in July 2016.  

Description

A richly poetic collection of short stories.

These literary short stories explore the triumphs, compromises and challenges of everyday life. Drawing on a wide array of characters, Helen Stancey shows how small events, insignificant to some, can resonate deeply in the lives of others. Richly poetic, deeply moving and entirely engaging, these short stories demonstrate human adaptation, endurance and, most of all, optimism.

Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop, #2 in the series, by Mai Mochizuki, Oct. 28, 2025; Ballantine/NetGalley 

Genre: Magical Realism/Whimsy

Over Christmas, people get their wishes revealed by the magical cats at the Full Moon Coffee Shop in Kyoto. For lovers of coffee, cats, and whimsy.

Cloe Dang Would Rather Be Dead by Mai Nguyen, April 14, 2026, Atria Books/NetGalley

Genre: women's fiction, adult fiction 

I read this way in advance of publication date because the title and author piqued my interest. Cloe is a woman living in Toronto who has just given birth to a stillborn baby. Her mourning for the lost child overwhelms her, her family, the rest of her life, and occcupies her daily thoughts. 

Her many prescriptions from her doctor only push her more towards the brink of wishing herself dead. 

Strangely enough, it's her experience working at a funeral home that start her towards a better perspective on grieving and coping with loss. 

It is a strange journey to read this book and travel with Cloe through her agonies, doubts, and grief. It's an unusual read that people who can't get over losing a loved one could perhaps benefit from, in the end. 

The injection of some humor that Cloe has about herself and her life makes the book readable and the character relatable. 

What are you reading, watching, or listening to this week? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday, Book Blogger Hop