May Bookish Wrap Up
ID: Graphic with a grey background. The words May Bookish Wrap Up are in the centre and surrounding them is a picture of some books, a cup of tea and some gold stars
Hello friends,
I hope May was a kind month for you all and you were able to read some lovely books. I managed to read three books in May and all were enjoyable. May was quite an exhausting month due to it being M.E Awareness Month and I had a number of nights when I could barely read a page before needing to sleep. But that’s okay and managing to read three books is still good going.
Here’s the books I read and what I thought of them:
Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
This was the Optional Buddy Read Book for the Book Club I co-host. It’s been on my radar for a while and I’d heard nothing but good things about it and I’m glad to say, this book deserves the hype as I really enjoyed it.
ID: The book Before The Coffee Gets Cold. It has a blue and white cover with a table and chairs, two coffee cups and a cat on it.
The story takes place in a mysterious Cafe in Tokyo. The Cafe has been serving Coffee for over a hundred years and along with the Coffee, you can also have an opportunity to travel back in time. Before The Coffee Gets Cold follows four visitors to the Cafe who all want to go back in time. However, there are a number of rules they must follow including sitting in a particular seat and returning to the future before they coffee gets cold.
The book is split into four parts rather than chapters and each part mainly follows the person who wants to go back in time. But I liked was that these people weren’t just random people arriving at the cafe but they all feature at some point in the other parts of the book, they each feature in each others stories, so you have the chance to get know them all throughout the book. So this is very much a character driven story, rather than focusing on a plot as such and I found the more I read, the more attached I become to these characters. I think the best way I can describe it is its a very “human story” exploring experiences wrapped in regret, lost love and what if’s, parts of life that many people can relate to and have experienced themselves.
The rules surrounding going back in time were interesting and recited to each person going back in time. Depending how quickly you read this book, it could feel a little repetitive at times but it also showed how serious the consequences of not following the rules can be. One of the more interesting rules was that the person going back couldn’t change the future and this then makes you wonder why anyone would want to go back in time, if you’re not able to make changes, maybe right wrongs. But those that do choose to still go back, find that the experience changes them, it almost feels like they all get some sort of closure, they’re able to move forward with their lives in the present and do so for the better. It was such a lovely and wonderful aspect to their stories and their reactions felt very realistic.
Another aspect of the stories that I really liked was that the Cafe owners and waitress were just shown as mysterious people who send people back in time. as each part progresses, you get to know them better and gain insight into their lives and what they’re going through, while helping people find closure in their own lives. The last part actually focuses on one of the owners of the Cafe but that’s all I’ll say because… spoilers!
Overall, this book is just wonderful, the writing style is beautiful, Kawaguchi has such a lovely way of describing things, that I felt like I was there in that Cafe watching the story unfold. It’s interesting to note that this book was originally written in Japanese and has been translated in English by Geoffrey Trousselot and it definitely doesn’t lose anything in the translation.
Before The Coffee Gets Cold: Tales From The Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
This is the second book to Before The Coffee Gets Cold, it takes place about six years after the events of the first one and again the book is set into four parts rather than chapters. While the Cafe owners and the waitress as the same, there’s a whole new set of visitors to the cafe. They all have connections to people in the first book and there’s actually a character relation map in the front of the book so you know who is who which was helpful.
ID: The book Tales From The Cafe. It has a gold and white cover. There is a chair, a cat and three pendulum wall clocks on it.
As with the first book, this is again a very character driven, human nature style story but the situations that bring these ones to the Cafe different from those in the first book. However, the rules are still the same and I admit, that the reciting of those each time someone went back in time, began to feel a little repetitive but I think this was probably because I read both books back to back. I think if I’d had a break in between, maybe picked up something else first, then I don’t think they would have felt as such.
I wouldn’t necessarily say you needed to read this one because the first one doesn’t really end on a cliffhanger like a normal book one in a series. However, if you want to read about the Cafe owners and the waitress in the first book, I’d recommend picking this up as within the stories of the people going back in time, Kawaguchi again gives you more insight into the lives of them, the waitress, Kazu, especially. You also learn more about the Coffee pouring that initiates the going back in time and who can actually do it, so that’s quite interesting.
Again, nothing is lost in translation. Kaaguchi’s writing style and descriptions as just was beautiful as in the first book. I really enjoyed it and I’m so glad I finally picked both books up.
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
I can’t even tell you how I came across this book, it might have just been when I was browsing the new section of Waterstone’s website, but I’m very glad I decided to pick it up!
ID: The book One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot. It has a white cover with multi coloured dots and paint splotches on it.
Lenni is 17 years old and is living on the terminal ward of Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital, the story is mainly told in her voice and what a voice! She’s so alive with adventure, that she’s often in trouble with the ward nurses. Eventually, she joins an art class that has been started for the patients of the hospital and it’s there she meets Margot, who is 83 years old ~ together they have lived 100 years. Their friendship and bond is instant and they decide to share their 100 years in the form of paintings and stories.
Most of the stories recorded are Margot’s, detailing her life from being a child right up to before she ended up in the hospital with heart problems. Lenni does share her stories and as the story progresses, you see her open up more and talk about things that doesn’t share with anyone else but Margot. Together these stories are about growing old, staying young, joy and kindness. Loss and finding that one person in life who is everything!
There are some trigger warnings for this book, that I think you should be aware of. Though it is maybe a bit of a spoiler, I feel I should mention that infant death is mentioned within this story and there’s also the odd moment of PTSD mentioned within Margot’s stories surrounding her father and his return from the Second World War. Depression is also spoken about, though never named, when Lenni tells stories featuring her mother. So just be mindful of those if you’re thinking of picking up this book.
Despite, those serious subjects being brought up, there is actually a lot of humour within this book ~ mainly centred around Lenni’s conversations with the Hospital chaplain, Father Arthur. Surprisingly I found myself laughing within the first 30 pages of this book and it was the dialogue between Arthur and Lenni that made me love Lenni as a character!
Another thing I found really interesting is that usually when you read a book featuring a character who is ill, terminal or not, the reader is normally given details or at the name of the ailment or disease. But you never find out what is actually wrong with Lenni, she never tells you. This point is even highlighted after she ends up in surgery; when she’s well enough to return to art class, the teacher starts asking questions, checking she is okay. Lenni tells her she’s fine and when the teacher presses a little more, Lenni only nods in answer. Then in the narrative mentions how irritating it is when people want to know everything, want to know the details of the surgery. It felt like she was saying to the reader ~ no matter how much you wonder, you’ll never get the full details of what’s wrong with me and you should be okay with that, because you don’t need to know. It’s not what the story is about.
Overall, Lenni and Margot’s story was a wonderful one! I laughed, I cried and throughly enjoyed every moment they chose to share. Marianne Cronin’s writing style was brilliant and I’m really looking forward to reading anything else she decides to write as this was her debut novel!
So those were the books I read during May. I also started a book called The World is at War, Again by Simon Lowe towards the end of May. This books has been gifted to me by the PR company and a full review of the book is coming next Monday as I’m also part of the Virtual Book Tour for this book.
What books have you read recently or have you read any of the three I read during May? Leave me a comment to let me know.
Stay Safe. Read a Book.
L x
