Let me try to propose a couple of items as well. First goes a book.
コーヒーが冷めないうちに
Summary
Japanese
Taken from Amazon
とある街の、とある喫茶店の
とある座席には不思議な都市伝説があった
その席に座ると、望んだとおりの時間に戻れるという
ただし、そこにはめんどくさい……
非常にめんどくさいルールがあった
1.過去に戻っても、この喫茶店を訪れた事のない者には会う事はできない
2.過去に戻って、どんな努力をしても、現実は変わらない
3.過去に戻れる席には先客がいる
その席に座れるのは、その先客が席を立った時だけ
4.過去に戻っても、席を立って移動する事はできない
5.過去に戻れるのは、コーヒーをカップに注いでから、
そのコーヒーが冷めてしまうまでの間だけ
めんどくさいルールはこれだけではない
それにもかかわらず、今日も都市伝説の噂を聞いた客がこの喫茶店を訪れる
喫茶店の名は、フニクリフニクラ
あなたなら、これだけのルールを聞かされて
それでも過去に戻りたいと思いますか?
この物語は、そんな不思議な喫茶店で起こった、心温まる四つの奇跡
第1話「恋人」結婚を考えていた彼氏と別れた女の話
第2話「夫婦」記憶が消えていく男と看護師の話
第3話「姉妹」家出した姉とよく食べる妹の話
第4話「親子」この喫茶店で働く妊婦の話
あの日に戻れたら、あなたは誰に会いに行きますか?.
English
Taken from GoodReads
In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.
In Before the Coffee Gets Cold , we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer’s, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.
But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .
Availability
Amazon
eBook on BookLive, I think it should be available at other platforms as well.
Personal Opinion
I bought this book in passing, attracted by a “Bestseller” mark on its cover. Well, I have to be honest, right? Anyways, when I started to read the first chapter, I had a somewhat comfortable feeling of a reading flow which I’d love to return to.
Later on I learned that the book was translated into a handful of languages like English, Russian, Italian, Arabic, Dutch…guess it was received pretty well by the readers.
Pros and Cons for the Book Club
Pros
- Many positive reviews included a word “heartwarming”. I got that feeling as well. This is a slow book with lots of dialogues between heroes of the specific story.
- This is not a sci-fi book. Time travels are nothing but background that gives the story a chance to develop.
- Book is separated into 4 independent stories united only by the place of action. If you are delayed or skip a few weeks you can still join at a later point with no losses.
Cons
- Stem from the pros: this is a non-action book focusing on human relations. It might seem boring for action-oriented readers
- It is all about feelings, words said and not said, things done and not done. Might be overcomplicated and errr…dissatisfying? At least I feel that way when the book MC is brooding over sth instead of just doing whatever needs to be done.
Pictures
First Three Pages of Chapter One
Additional Pages
Difficulty Poll
How much effort would you need to read this book?
- No effort at all
- Minimal effort
- Moderate effort
- Significant effort
- So much effort my head might explode
- I don’t know