Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Finished December 4

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, translated by Geoffrey Trousselot

This book is the first in the series names for this title. It is a book set in a small basement coffee shop in a back alley in Tokyo. The shop has existed for decades and there is a legend that the shop also gives customers the chance to travel back in time. 

In this book, there are four stories, each with a customer visiting the cafe with the hope that the legend is true and that they can make such a journey. But there are rules around these journeys: One is that the traveller cannot change the present, no matter what they do. Another is that you can only meet someone who has visited the coffee shop. A third is that there is only one place in the shop that you can sit to travel, and you must remain in that seat for the duration. A fourth rule is the limit of the visit, the time is takes from the coffee being poured until it gets cold. And the visitor has to drink all the coffee or they will be stuck as a ghost. 

The visitors here go back for various reasons, and we see all of these visitors in the introduction to the first story. Here Fumiko wants to go back to have a different conversation with her boyfriend Goru who recently went to work in America. 

In the second story, Kohtake wants to go back to before her husband Fusagi, who has early-onset Alzheimer's, forgot who she was. A staff member at the shop says that the reason Fusagi wanted to go back was to give her a letter, but that she can go back to get it herself. 

The third story is the story of sisters. Hirai runs a snack bar near the coffee shop. She came to Tokyo from the outskirts of Sendai, a city a few hours north of Tokyo, where her parents ran an inn. Her younger sister Kumi comes often to the cafe to try to meet Hirai, but Hirai won't talk with her. Hirai left because her parents expected her to take over running the inn and she didn't want to, and they eventually transferred their expectations to Kumi. When something happens to Kumi, Hirai knows that she wants to have that conversation with her sister that she's been avoiding. 

The fourth story shifts the conversations around travelling in time to contemplate travelling to the future and the difficulty of determining whether the one you want to meet with be there at the time you travel to. One of the coffee shop workers decides to do it, with the others promising to do what they can to ensure the meeting takes place. 

I liked the premise of the book, and the parameters around these travels in time. They are very different from what we often see in novels with time travel as a concept. 

A feel-good read that will appeal to a variety of readers. 

A Honeybun and Coffee

Finished July 27

A Honeybun and Coffee by Sam Cheever

I picked up this one to fit one of my reading challenges regarding title and was pleasantly surprised. The cover doesn't entirely fit the novel. It almost reads as a send up of romantic suspense novels, with the wordplay on names, the near-misses, and the unlikely situations. The main character, Angie Peterson, owns a coffee and pastry shop, and one day she ends up overhearing a conversation between two of her customers where they discuss killing someone. The target has an unusual name, Alastair Honeybun, a name that conjures elderly Englishman to Angie, and she quickly looks him up and rushes to his house to warn him. 

Once there she finds him quite different than her expectations, a tall, handsome man with a dachshund named Jaws, and he finds her story hard to believe. But the two men she heard show up shortly after her and Alastair and Angie are now on the run, together. They get help from his family along the way, but things get dicey at times, and the heat between them grows.

The haplessness of many of the bad guys, the numerous and very capable Honeybun brothers, and the many narrow escapes mean that the plot moves quickly and keeps the reader surprised and amused. This is the first in a series that follows each of the eight Honeybun brothers as the risk life and love, this is a promising start for those that like the combination of suspense, romance, and humour. 

It Started with a Dog

Finished July 14

It Started with a Dog by Julia London

This is another Austin, Texas set romance with a meet-cute that is chaotic and brief. Harper Thompson is rushing to catch the Megabus to Dallas, the last one that will get her there for Christmas. The Lyft driver is friendly and chatty, but the weather and traffic are both awful, and everyone is relieved when he agrees to turn off the radio. The SUV is full with someone in front and Harper squeezed beside two others in the middle, and all the luggage in the back. 

When the vehicle stops suddenly due to traffic everyone loses their grip on their phones and then wildly searches the floor. Harper doesn't notice that the phone she picks up, although the right colour isn't hers. She is the first to exit and runs for the bus, collapsing into the last seat available. Harper is taking a break from her job with a wacky boss who talks in riddles and yet somehow has created a thriving food truck and coffeehouse business. In the new year, Harper will be opening their newest location, and hopefully setting herself up for a promotion.

Jonah is headed to the airport, to Chicago to help a cousin move and get away from the family business which he has been trying to resurrect. The coffee shop was started by his grandparents, and now run by his parents and aunt and uncle, but when his father became ill, he took leave from his aerospace engineering job to run the business side. But the restaurant hasn't been updated in years, and is losing money. He's tried a few things, but nothing has worked yet. 

Jonah discovers the phone mix-up when he's at the airport, and with the slightly unbelievable fact that neither of the them locks their phone, is able to contact Harper. 

As they text back and forth, and surreptitiously check out each other's photo collections, they find a lot in common in terms of interests and how they like to communicate. But it is Jonah's picture of his dog Truck that really intrigues Harper. She would love a dog of her own, but feels she's too busy and instead does volunteer dog-walking at the ACC (Austin Canine Coalition).

Once the holidays are over and both Jonah and Harper are back in town and meet up to exchange phones, they discover a mutual attraction. But can it overcome the business rivalry that they find themselves in. Or would teaming up there as well actually work?

A fun story, with lots of interesting characters, including a few dogs, and an intriguing plot. I read it in one day. 

This is actually the second book in an Austin series, and some characters from the previous book You Lucky Dog appear here as well. 

Everything at Last

Finished April 7

Everything at Last by Kimberly Lang

This book is part of a series set in the small coastal town of Magnolia Beach, Alabama. Molly Richards has lived in Magnolia Beach for a couple of years now, and runs a coffee shop called Latte Dah. She rents the guesthouse belonging to an older woman, Mrs. Kennedy, and here Mrs. Kennedy has to go out of town just before the annual fair and she leaves Molly in charge of the Children's Fair portion, something Mrs. Kennedy has run for years. Molly hasn't even been to the Children's Fair and she calls on her best friend Helena for moral support and advice. The fair raises money for local charities, including animal rescue and Tate Harris, local veterinarian and friend of Helena has been a little involved in the past.

As Tate helps her sort out the massive amount of paperwork Molly's been left, they also get to know each better, finding themselves drawn to each other. Molly's not been involved with anyone since she's arrived in town, and she has a past that left her in limbo. When her newfound attention with the fair brings that past to light, things get a bit dramatic. 

I liked the small town atmosphere, where everyone knows everyone's business, but has each other's back against outsiders. And I liked Molly's cat Nigel, who has quite a personality (no, there's no talking cat though). 

This is a nice romance, with a bit of drama, and women who find their own way through their difficulties in life for the most part. 

Waiting for Tom Hanks

Finished June 16
Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey

This is a novel romcom. The main character Annie Cassidy has dreams of being her generation's Nora Ephron. She is working on a screenplay, and doing freelance writing to make a living. Annie's dad died when she was just a baby, and her mother was a big rom-com fan, telling wonderful stories of Annie's dad and their special romance. Annie's mom died while she was in high school, and she responded by throwing herself in schoolwork and extra-curricular activities, becoming valedictorian and then graduating college summa cum laude in film studies. When her mom died, her uncle Don moved into the house, to provide stability, companionship, and a parental figure. Her uncle Don is a bit of a nerd with a social life mostly consisting of a Dungeons and Dragons group and the occasional comic-con outing.
Annie believes that someday her personal rom-com will happen with a Tom Hanks-like figure, some initial confusion and a great love. So she's been waiting for that to happen. Her best friend Chloe works in the coffee shop that Annie does a lot of her writing in, an independent shop owned by a young man, Nick Velez. Chloe is taking some business school courses, gradually earning a degree, but also paying for her dad's memory-care facility. The two women spend a lot of time together. Chloe is constantly trying to get Annie to go on dates, occasionally setting her up, to no success. As the book begins, the two hear about the upcoming filming of a rom-com in their very own neighbourhood.
Through a series of connections, Annie manages to get a job on set, and meet some people in the industry she longs to be part of. As she begins her employment with a meet-cute with the film's male star, spilling coffee on him, she is off to a good start, but keeps getting in her own way.
This is a fun, light read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of humour and interesting characters.