I have another book recommendation. Okay, last month I said The Berry Pickers was my favorite pick for 2025. Now I have a new favorite. Is it okay to have a tie? I guess it must be. After all, I’m the one rating it.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikaz Kawaguchi.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold was an award-winning play before Kawaguchi converted it into a novel. It’s about time travel. A very specific kind of time travel with lots of rules. You travel from a specific chair in a specific cafe. You stay in the cafe the whole while you’re traveling, and you must return before your cup of coffee gets cold.

What do you wish to do before the coffee gets cold?

This is a delightful little book about regret, love, and misunderstandings. It’s a tiny book and easy to read.

The story is little odd, but sweetly odd. I cried several times because it touched my heart so. Tears welled up, and my voice got shaky every time I tried to tell someone about the woman whose husband had dementia. Ooooh. I might cry again just remembering it.

I had a bit of a problem keeping the characters of Before the Coffee Gets Cold straight in my head. I’m guessing it’s because I’m not familiar with the Japanese names Kawaguchi uses.

I’m going to give my copy to Mom to read. I know it’s a special book when I want to give it away. And I’m going to suggest Mom jot down the names as she reads. Wait. I’ll do that for her and slip the list into the jacket.