I am looking to fly to Japan from Europe and AirChina seems like the cheapest option by far. As I am not a seasoned long-distance traveler, I wanted to hear some experiences with the airline before deciding what to go for. Flying low cost around Europe worked fine for me so far. Would you recommend AirChina for an intercontinental trip? Thanks!

Hi everyone, I am looking to improve my German. I understand quite a bit by now but my spoken language is still child-like (I am somewhere B1+). Reading has always been something I enjoy. That being said: any (good) books you could recommend that are written by German-speaking writers and are "easy" to read? Just to say, I am not looking for children books - I need to be engaged with the story to read it. Thanks!

I cycle daily and was thinking to update my summer wardrobe with some basic cotton-based (just not too sporty looking) bicycle shorts which I can style with blouses/shirts/longer t-shirts. Looking to wear them for work too so don't want to get some bad quality/see -through ones. Thanks!

Don't really know how to explain this. I like sci fi and would love to dig deeper into it. Am avid reader and enjoyed Project Hail Mary (though set in space, this book is just amazing), Dune, short stories by Ray Bradbury and TV shows like Raised by the Wolves, Westworld, From (love From!). But e.g. Foundation I really disliked. Wheel of time is massive and I lost interest. Even the guide through galaxy I appreciated but was not really into it. Somehow, all those lots of traveling, lots of worlds, lots of many novel/invented names and terms render reading laborious for me.

Can you help me pin what is that I like and perhaps offer me a suggestion where to start? Thanks!

EDIT: thanks everyone for your excellent suggestions! So happy to be a part of lemmy community. I might make a follow up thread in couple of months so we can discuss some of the works. And lastly, if you been reading this far: have a good weekend.