u/TheTitanCoeus

Hi everyone! Planning to cycle the Shimanami Kaido in early November since so many people recommend it. I've seen some comments that a lot of places in the region are closed on Tuesdays — is that true?

If I ride it on a Wednesday instead, should I still expect most things to be closed, like cafés and temples? Or does the closure mainly affect Tuesdays?

I don't have much flexibility with the dates for the ride, so any advice would be really helpful.

I'm posting a question similar to one I posted a few days ago, since mods locked that thread for having too little discussion from my side on the initial post.

So, the right book in the right reader's hands at the right time can make a lasting difference in their life or reading habits. But sometimes a book finds you at the wrong time, and you can't help but wonder how things might have turned out if you'd found it sooner.

To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies are amazing, but I think they'd have hit harder if I'd read them back in school instead of a bit later. On the other hand, I was too young for The Master and Margarita as it just felt too bizarre, and I don't think I was ready for it. I'd probably get a lot more out of it if I read it again now. I'm glad I didn't read Lolita too young, though, I think I needed some age and distance to not get tricked or unsettled by it the way a younger reader might.

Then there's Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro. Reading it, I realized you don't want to find it too late as you might already be just as fixed in your views, and just as fragile and ignorant underneath, as Elena is. I'm glad I didn't wait even longer to read it.

Some of it comes down to timing in a more literal sense too. I read Memoirs of a Geisha and Pachinko after I'd already traveled to Asia, when I really wish I'd read them beforehand. Same with The Plague, I read it well before COVID instead of during, and I think it would've meant something different to me in the moment. And Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is one I keep thinking I should've found years earlier, back when I actually needed it.

So, there might be many reasons, but what was the book that came into your hands at the wrong time?

Sometimes a book finds you at the wrong time. You read it in your 30s, 40s, or later, and can't help but wonder how things might've turned out if you'd found it sooner. So what's a book you wish had reached you earlier, one you wish you'd read in your 20s, 30s, 40s, whatever age would've made the difference? (Not necessarily your 20s, it could be your 30s, 40s, or later, or just some period in your life that could've benefited from it) And what age do you think would've been the right one?

Hey! US stocks seem to dominate discussions across Reddit. Yet European companies rarely get mentioned. Which European stocks do you hold, and which do you believe in most for growth?