Until the final chapter, I would have only described this book as "melancholy." Each little vignette was even more poignant than the first book, to the point where I could only read one at a time before I needed to go do something more cheerful. But the whole story ended so lovely, it really is worth reading. Just make sure you're in the right frame of mind! You will meet new characters, but learn so much more about characters you met in Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Savor this one!

I really enjoyed this follow-up novel to Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Let me take a moment here to recommend that you read that before starting this book--you'll likely still enjoy Tales from the Café, but you might understand just a bit more.

Funiculi Funicula is a café where locals say you can visit to travel back in time. With several of my favorite characters from Before the Coffee Gets Cold, there is more to this back alley café than just their coffee. I loved the visitors and the stories that were told. There were several moments that made me tear up because I loved the way that Toshikazu Kawaguchi viewed the situation. One particular story that regards loss really touched my heart.

This was a quick and fun read and I highly recommend adding it to the top of your read list. Thank you to Hanover Press for an advanced reading copy for an honest review. I'm so glad to have added this to my list this year!

Tales from the Cafe is about a magical cafe where time travel takes place. However, there are rules. You can travel to the past or the present, but the person you are trying to reach has to have visited the cafe at some point, anything you do or say will not alter the future or past, you cannot get up from the time traveling spot, and most importantly, you mush drink the coffee before it gets cold or you will turn into a ghost.

I read Before the Coffee Gets Cold when it came out last year and enjoyed it. I like the short story format and the fact that the tales are unlike anything that I have ever read. I think both books would make great plays! While I've enjoyed both books, they are not something that I just can't put down, it took me a couple weeks to finish it, but each story had its more engrossing parts which pushed me to finish. Also, since its been a couple years since the last book came out, I forgot who what who in the cafe, a cast of characters would definitely be helpful. If the author writes another book in the series I would definitely pick it up, I like that its original and kind of quirky.

A well done continuation of stories from the Cafe. We definitely get more insight into the mechanics of the time travel, how it works, and who the mysterious woman is. The stories pack an emotional punch and keep you turning the page for the next installment. Highly recommended!

3.5., rounded up. Kawaguchi continues the world-building he established in his first book, introducing new customers to the café while also updating readers on the lives of those working there. Reading it felt like coming back to a familiar haunt--cozy, warm, yet intriguing enough to keep me on my toes. Some of the writing still feels a bit elusive, but I was used to some of that from Kawaguchi's previous book.

Read Before the Coffee Gets Cold before you read this. Then, grab a good cup of coffee (tea will do as well), and sit down to enjoy a heartwarming continuation of the stories of the employees and customers of Funiculi Funicula, a little and hard to find coffee shop in Tokyo. Other than amazing sound coffee, it also has the ability to let customers visit a moment in the past or future. Of course there are some rules and I might have been okay without them constantly being restated to the various customers, but it feels like part of the ritual and adds to the reader's anticipation of events to come. I loved how some of the characters met in the first book returned. I also loved the continuation of the story of the owners/employees of the coffee shop. Reading this book is like meeting a good friend for a nice coffee date. I hope there are more installments in this series! I am here for them!

4.5
Happy to return to the mystical cafe Funiculi Funicula and some of our beloved characters. Definitely would not recommend reading this without reading Before the Coffee Gets Cold. Themes of love and loss and obligation. Will eagerly await the translation of book three.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of Tales From the Cafe!

I absolutely loved Before the Coffee Gets Cold, and I was very excited to read the sequel. Unfortunately, I didn't love Tales from the Cafe as much. I still love the premise, that people can go back or forward in time from a specific seat in a coffee shop following a very specific set of rules. I think the setting and premise are very well-contrived, but I felt that the characters in this volume didn't pull me in as much. In the first volume, I found myself always wanting to know more about each character, and I loved the ways that things about the characters were revealed through their traveling back in time. In this one, I felt that the stories were a bit more convoluted and that the author was trying to tie the stories together in multiple ways that just felt a bit forced. The writing style is lovely, and I still enjoyed many aspects of the book, but I just didn't love it in the way I loved the first one.

If you've read Before the Coffee Gets Cold, you may enjoy this one as well, but if you haven't read the first one, I highly recommend starting there!

Over the last few years, I've been trying to read more translated fiction. That is how I discovered Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Japanese author Toshikazu Kawaguchi in 2019. When I saw there was a sequel coming out I was excited - so excited that I requested both the audiobook and the e-ARC via Netgalley in hopes of being approved for at least one. I got approved for both versions!

I started with the audiobook because I was at work and had finished the audiobook I had been listening to. Tales from the Cafe felt very much like the first book. The same stark language - it's as if someone else is re-telling you a story. That feeling is made stronger by the fact it is told in third person. I remembered from reading the previous book that it started a little slow but since I knew what to expect with this volume I had hoped to get into the story a bit quicker.

As I was also working on my book club book (another Japanese novel) I continued listening to the audiobook. I didn't like the narrator reading the book. He felt detached from what he was reading. It felt flat and for a book that is only five and a half hours it took me days to get to the halfway point. As I felt it had more to do with the audiobook rather than the book, I picked up the e-ARC yesterday morning. In just a few hours I had it read.

If you haven't read the previous book. that's okay. Outside of the cafe owners, the characters that visit the cafe to time travel are all new. You should prepare yourself that these stories will feel like reading short stories at first. There is also a bit of repetition with each chapter as the person coming to the cafe has to be told the rules of time travel.

If you have read the previous book, the format of Tales from the Cafe is exactly the same. You will also feel very satisfied as there are mentions of the characters from Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

While I haven't read Japanese literature extensively, the few books I have read have been similar in style. On the surface, it seems very minimalist and almost without emotion. Someone at book club mentioned that they felt like they were looking down on the story (in reference to the book we read) and that is an apt description for Tales from the Cafe. Yet, the book is not without emotion. Many of the characters are sobbing and happiness is a prominent theme.

I thought it is interesting that there is a little section about the Japanese language. It felt kind of like a tangent and I had to wonder if it had been added for the English-speaking audience. It is mentioned that Japanese uses "onomatopoeic expressions to communicate sounds". That device is employed in the story - such as the tears dropping to the table. It is this subtle means of infusing emotion into the story that gives it a lyrical quality, but you must read closely to catch it.

There is quite a bit of repetition in the story. It goes beyond the repeated rules and I don't remember it from the previous book. However, it also adds to the poetic feel of the writing style. It's like every time the character's story is retold (or maybe restarted is a better word) the reader gets another layer added.

There could be many more volumes of stories from the cafe, but as a two-volume series, it feels very complete and satisfying. Both are short, quick reads so it would be easy to read both of them in a weekend if you haven't read the first book yet.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Sunday, Oct. 9 - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2021/10/tales-from-cafe-by-toshikazu-kawaguchi.html

I adored the first book in this collection, and I loved this one, too! It was fun revisiting some of the characters from the previous round. These stories are lovely, sad, happy, heartbreaking- and both of these books are just good for the soul.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy!

You don’t need to have read the first book in order to enjoy this one because the rules are explained again…and again. Too many times if you ask me. I understand why because one of the people in this book decided to go forward in time and it’s a bit of a brain-bender to figure out the hows, whens, and whys of his decision. It wasn’t quite as good as the last one, but it was a god follow-up and a nice ending to the waitress’s story. Overall it reminds you to be happy after someone dies because it respects their life. Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a collection of 4 short stories continuing the stories of time travel after the events of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. You should definitely read the first book before getting into this, not only because its great, but because it connects you to the characters more.

This collection got a higher rating for me than the first book because I liked all of the stories in this one and I only liked 3/4 stories in the first. I admit that I sobbed, its so sad but so sweet.

I want to note, if you're from a western culture and reading this please keep in mind that Japanese culture is different from yours and the way people behave and act might not "correct" to you.

Revisiting the fantastical cafe in a Japanese metropolis was like revisiting a long lost friend. I was very deeply touched by the first book Before the Coffee Gets Cold when I read it last year.  I apparently didn't ever actually post up about it here, but I did on Goodreads only, which seems really odd.  

That being said, and this may be the point of this story... is... I am righting wrongs.

So consider this, you have an opportunity to sit down with your own cup of hot coffee and you get to enter a lovely space and learn a little bit more about the people that are surrounding you and behind the counter of the beloved cafe.

The first book introduced us to the customers of the cafe but this book is more about the people of the cafe. What their tales are, how they traverse this amazing space and what they do and how they got there.  This book was something I didn't know I was missing to be honest. I didn't know that I needed these stories and mysteries as well.  
I want to give absolutely nothing away, but it was great.  We get a visit from a previous guest of the cafe and his travel back in time is so charming. I nearly forgot about his story from the first book, to be honest.  Our detective from the first story brings us into his world and lets us revisit the other patrons from the first book again. 
We learn and come full circle with the woman who has to vacate her chair for others to visit the past (or future).  What a tale that is.  

The warmth of the story is reflected in the sepia tone you get from the description of the location and it's like watching an old film, or looking at an old photograph. But with new eyes.  

The book is going to be released on October 12, 2021 and has already, and rightfully so, been chosen as a November 2021 Indie Next Pick.  

This story is so deeply touching and lovely to read.  I was so unbelievably struck by the last 10 pages, I honestly was sad when the story ended.  

Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the advanced copy.  I am all the better for reading this book.  I look at this book and story as a way to revisit MY past in the present by making sure that I tell everyone their value now in my life.  It is a quick read from a slim but packed with resonant emotions. Don't hesitate to pick it up.  

I am going to go back and read both volumes again, because I still think there are lessons I can learn from our cafe'.   While visiting the past (or future) you can make your amends but the present doesn't change in our cafe' but it makes the current time that much more valuable and these stories provide us with that lesson.  These stories are beautiful proof of that.

This title follows upon the highly regarded, Before the coffee gets cold. Once again, the author spins a world that comes vividly to life. There is a bit of sci fi or magical realism within, call it what you will.

The tales take place in a very special cafe. A customer can go back in time so long as they are ready to return to their world before the coffee gets cold. This title follows four such patrons of the cafe. Each of these customers will come back changed.

This book is a treat. Those who enjoyed The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World are most likely to enjoy this title as well. It is a short book at 145 pages but also one to savor.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I received an electronic ARC from HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing (U.S. & Canada) through NetGalley.
Readers meet several other people who make the trip to the past (or future) to see a loved one and gain peace in their own lives. The cafe owners and staff stay the same as the first volume and Kawaguchi reveals more of their own stories wrapped around those who travel. Each of the stories reveals twists and insights that offer brief glimpses of the characters' lives. Readers are given the gift to flesh out the stories themselves as they meet and travel with each person. Life lessons are handled in a gentle manner which makes them all the more powerful. Hope to see further journeys as some stories have been resolved and others have just begun by the end of this volume.

Tales from the cafe - Toshikazu Kawaguchi (translated by Geoffrey Trousselot)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

* Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin - Trade Publishing for providing a digital copy of Before The Coffe Gets Cold : Tales From The Cafe in exchange of a honest review.

I adored the second book, as much as I adored the first one. There is something about the ambiance/desceiption of the Cafe that feels like home.
I loved that we keep following the same caracters and all their lives are kind of intertwined. I feel like there is so much we could still learn about theses people, I really hope there will be another book.
The only thing I am a little *disapointed* in is... where's the cat that we see on the cover? That cat need to keep compagny to Kaname.

Here's some of my favorites quotes:
"His message was not one of empathy. He was pointing out a way Asami could change the way she thought about the grief that she was experiencing."
"Seasons flow in a cycle.
Life too, passes through difficult winters. But after any winter, spring will follow. Here, one spring had arrived."

What a collection of stories which make you think about your own life. It made m reflect and contemplate what I would d if given the same opportunity. The rules for traveling (either to the past or future) seemed difficult to grasp, but once you were reading about each occurrence it made it easier. I loved the overlap and actually went back in order to better understand the relationship.

I understand there is a first collection of stories and will go back to read those.

Do you have someone you'd like to see again? Something you'd like to change? Or do you want to know what will happen to someone in the future? That's possible if you sit in a particular chair in a Japanese coffee shop. Know, however, that you can't really change outcomes, only assuage whatever it is you need to for yourself. This is the second set of four stories set in this coffee shop and I suspect is most enjoyable if you've read the first one. The staff of the Cafe Funiculi is the link between the stories. It's a slim volume but one which packs a surprising punch. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold was the first book I read in 2021. It was whimsical, unique, and almost stark in prose. The sequel Tales from the Cafe is no different, and picks up where the 1st one left off. If any, this was easier to get into because the reader, having read the first installment, is already invested in the characters. Rich themes such as love and loss among others run through the emotional stories, and I really enjoyed this read!

I was so excited to see there was a sequel to "Before the Coffee Gets Cold". Filled with heartwarming stories of accepting your fate and coming to terms with things that have happened.