Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series by Toshikazu Kawaguchi 5 Books Collection Set - Fiction - Mixed Format

Titles in This Set
Before the Coffee Gets Cold [Paperback]
Tales from the Cafe [Paperback]
Before Your Memory Fades [Paperback]
Before We Say Goodbye [Paperback]
Before We Forget Kindness [Hardcover]

Details
Condition: Brand New
Format: Mixed Format (Paperback + Hardcover)
ISBN: 9781529050868, 9781035032402, 9781035044528, 9781035046249, 9781529029581
Publisher: Picador

Overview
Step inside a small basement cafe in Tokyo where, according to legend, a single seat allows customers to travel back in time. This five-book collection follows the regulars and strangers who sit in that chair, each hoping to revisit a moment they cannot let go. Toshikazu Kawaguchi builds an entire emotional universe around one strict rule: nothing in the present can change. Across all five volumes, readers meet grieving spouses, estranged parents, and quiet dreamers who discover that the past cannot be rewritten, only understood, and that a warm cup of coffee can hold more meaning than we ever expect.

About the Books
Originally written in Japanese and brought to English-language readers through Geoffrey Trousselot's translation, the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series began as a stage play before Toshikazu Kawaguchi reworked it into a bestselling novel. The premise stays deceptively simple across all five books: inside Cafe Funiculi Funicula, one particular seat lets a visitor travel back in time, provided they return before their coffee grows cold and accept that nothing they do can alter the present. What unfolds instead is a study of acceptance, communicated through short, interconnected stories about the people who take that seat. Some want one more conversation with someone they lost. Others want to say something they were too afraid or too proud to say the first time. Kawaguchi never lets the fantasy overshadow the feeling; the time-travel mechanic exists purely to illuminate ordinary human regret and the quiet courage it takes to move forward. As the series expands from the original cafe through later entries set in a hillside branch near Hakodate and beyond, the emotional core never wavers. Themes of family, memory, forgiveness, and the passage of time recur book after book, making this collection ideal for reading in sequence or dipping into individually. Fans of gentle, character-driven Japanese fiction, and anyone who enjoyed the international word-of-mouth success of the first novel, will find the remaining four books a natural continuation of the same tender, cinematic storytelling.

Key Benefits

• Complete run of five titles in the series, ready to read in order
• Brand-new copies in a mix of paperback and hardcover formats
• Gentle, translated Japanese fiction with broad appeal for adult readers
• Self-contained stories, so readers can start anywhere in the collection
• A thoughtful gift for fans of quiet, character-driven novels
• Compact format that travels well for commutes and bedside reading

Book-by-Book Guide
Before the Coffee Gets Cold — Four visitors take the legendary seat to revisit a fading memory, an unspoken goodbye, and other unfinished moments before their coffee cools.
Tales from the Cafe — Translated by Geoffrey Trousselot, this second volume brings new guests to the cafe hoping to mend old regret.
Before Your Memory Fades — Set partly near Hakodate's Cafe Donna Donna, this installment follows loved ones confronting aging and memory.
Before We Say Goodbye — Regulars at Cafe Funiculi Funicula use the time-slip seat to offer comfort before a final parting.
Before We Forget Kindness — In this hardcover installment, new visitors carry quiet regrets, discovering that one small kindness can change the present.

About the Author
Toshikazu Kawaguchi is a Japanese playwright and director whose stage production inspired the original Before the Coffee Gets Cold novel. Since the book's English-language debut, translated by Geoffrey Trousselot, Kawaguchi has expanded the story into an international bestselling series exploring memory, regret, and human connection through the lens of a Tokyo time-travel cafe. His restrained, theatrical style favors intimate dialogue over spectacle, and his background in theater shows in the way each book stages small, emotionally charged encounters. Kawaguchi continues to write within this world, giving readers new characters while returning to the same beloved cafe.

Why You'll Love This Collection
This five-book set is a comforting escape for anyone who loves reflective, character-driven fiction. Perfect as a birthday gift, holiday season present, or addition to a book club shelf, it rewards slow reading and quiet nights in. Start the series or complete your collection with these brand-new copies.

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