Before The Coffee Gets Cold Series by Toshikazu Kawaguchi 4 Books Collection Set - Fiction - Paperback

Titles in This Set
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
Tales from the Cafe
Before Your Memory Fades
Before We Say Goodbye

Details
Condition: Brand New
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
Genre: Fiction

Overview
Step into Cafe Funiculi Funicula, a basement coffee shop in Tokyo where legend says one seat lets a customer travel through time - but only until the coffee goes cold. This four-book paperback collection gathers Toshikazu Kawaguchi's beloved series, following visitors who each carry a private wish: to see a lost loved one, hear an unspoken apology, or say a final goodbye. Blending Japanese storytelling with gentle magical realism, the series has become an international word-of-mouth favorite - a thoughtful gift for book clubs, coffee lovers, and anyone drawn to stories about memory and second chances.

About the Books
Toshikazu Kawaguchi's series began life as a stage play before becoming a talked-about translated fiction phenomenon. Each installment returns readers to Cafe Funiculi Funicula, where strict, peculiar rules govern the time-travel seat: nothing done in the past can change the present, the traveler must return before the coffee cools, and they can only meet people who have also visited the cafe. Within these constraints, Kawaguchi builds intimate, bittersweet vignettes about customers waiting their turn in the chair. Before the Coffee Gets Cold introduces the cafe and four visitors seeking reconciliation with the past. Tales from the Cafe widens the circle of regulars, offering stories of unspoken gratitude and quiet courage. Before Your Memory Fades shifts partly to a sister cafe on a windswept hillside, where memory itself becomes fragile and precious. Before We Say Goodbye closes the arc with visitors confronting endings and words left unsaid. Read together, the four books form a gentle meditation on how ordinary conversations - an apology, a confession, a thank-you - can carry extraordinary weight when time is running out. Fans of reflective, slow-burn fiction with a touch of the fantastical will find this collection rewarding, best savored slowly, one cup of coffee at a time.

Key Benefits

• Complete four-book paperback set in one convenient collection
• Follows the full story arc across Cafe Funiculi Funicula and its sister cafe
• Ideal gift for readers who enjoy Japanese fiction and gentle magical realism
• Short, self-contained chapters make it easy to pick up and put down
• Great for book clubs, coffee lovers, and fans of emotional, character-driven stories
• Brand new paperback copies, ready to read or gift immediately

Book-by-Book Guide
Before the Coffee Gets Cold — Four visitors take turns in the cafe's legendary seat, hoping a trip to the past can ease regrets they've carried for years.
Tales from the Cafe — New regulars test the limits of the cafe's rules to voice gratitude, love, or long-overdue honesty.
Before Your Memory Fades — The story extends to a sister cafe in the mountains, where travelers confront fading memories and fragile bonds.
Before We Say Goodbye — The series' final chapter brings visitors face to face with farewells and bittersweet resolution.

About the Author
Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a Japanese playwright and director born in Osaka in 1971. He has written and produced for the theatrical group Sonic Snail, and his original stage play Before the Coffee Gets Cold won the grand prize at the Suginami Drama Festival before being adapted into the novel that launched this series. Since its English-language debut, Kawaguchi's gentle, time-bending storytelling has found a devoted international readership, with the series becoming a word-of-mouth favorite among readers seeking quiet, emotionally resonant fiction translated from Japanese.

Why You'll Love This Collection
This is the complete set for readers who love slow, tender stories about memory, love, and second chances. With its cozy cafe setting and bittersweet time-travel premise, it's a wonderful birthday gift, book club pick, or stocking stuffer for anyone who enjoys reflective, quietly moving fiction.

Please Note: This is the UK edition with the ISBN as listed; the cover may vary slightly from the image shown.