When to

kw: book reviews, nonfiction, advice

Got a hankering for a night out? What's the best evening to eat out? Try this:

Tuesday. Most restaurants don't receive deliveries on Saturdays or Sundays, and many are closed on Mondays. Restaurants that are open on Sundays and Mondays are cleaning out their refrigerators and serving food that may not be fresh. Food deliveries start early in the week, so the food served on Tuesday is fresh. Bonus: Most restaurants aren't crowded that day.

That is one of about 400 blurbs of good advice you'll find in Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon: A Guide to the Best Time to Buy This, Do That and Go There by Mark Di Vincenzo. In a world full of "How To" books, this is a "When To" book. You'll find out when to buy a camera, TV, or a horse, when to call 911, and when to visit the Grand Canyon or Magic Kingdom.

Some questions are answered more than one way: what day of the week, what day in the month, which month of the year, for example. Others have a more conceptual answer. To the question "When is the best time to buy gold?", the short answer is "When the economy is stable." Prices rise with the level of fear.

The advice in this book isn't just a compendium of the author's opinions. The last 27 pages give his sources for all the blurbs. He notes that he had to break a few ties, and in the text he sometimes cites alternate views.

This was an enjoyable read, but it is also a good resource to keep handy. What is the best time to read this book? Whenever you know how, but don't know when.