5/5 Stars: ‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Café’ is an Adult, Contemporary Science Fiction by Toshikazu Kawaguchi; ‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Café’, the sequel to ‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold’, is the second book set in the Funiculi Funicula time-travelling café. Following the format of its predecessor, the novel contains four short stories that weave together to create a complete narrative. Familiar characters from the first novel emerged – café owner Nagare and waitress Kazu – whom are explored further. In ‘Tales from the Café’ there is a heavy exploration into the rippling effects of grief, and how the yearning for closure has led to their arrival at Funiculi Funicula. Far from being sentimental, Kawaguchi aims to show that life is for the living, and that sometimes it is necessary to face up to grief in order to relinquish feelings of regret or shame that stop you from moving forward in life. ‘Tales from the Café’ is a suitable stand-alone read; the rules of time travel are explained in equal depth as the first book. That said, Kawaguchi originally wrote the first book as a play, and following its succession, was written in novel form. At times, ‘Tales from the Café’ plays out as acts, giving a theatrical, almost pantomime-like quality.