2012: The year in reading

This is what I read in 2012. Lots of manga, some excellent time waster, quite a few gems. Among my  favorite novels last year, Jean-Patrick Manchette's La position du tireur couché, Ian Tregillis' Bitter Seeds, Jonathan Franzen's Freedom, and Giampaolo Simi's La Notte alle mie spalle. Among the graphic novels, Craig Thompson's Habibi, and the Bakuman series.


The full list: 

A Wrinkle in Time	Madeleine L'engle
Le Roi de Fer	Maurice Druon
Cat's Eye	Margaret Atwood
L'Ami De'Enfance De Maigret	Georges Simenon
La Position du tireur couché	Jean-Patrick Manchette
The Secret Garden	Frances Hodgson Burnett
N Is for Noose	Sue Grafton
O is for Outlaw	Sue Grafton
Bienvenue parmi nous	Eric Holder
Un Leonberger di nome Bruno ovvero cosa non si fa per un biscotto	Arianna Falconer
P is for Peril	Sue Grafton
Q is for Quarry	Sue Grafton
His Majesty's Dragon	Naomi Novik
DMZ Vol. 1	Brian Wood
Black Powder War	Naomi Novik
Welcome to the NHK Volume 1	Tatsuhiko Takimoto, Kendi Oiwa
Emma	Kaoru Mori
The Invention of Hugo Cabret	Brian Selznick
Emma	Kaoru Mori
Wasteland Book 1	Christopher J. Mitten, Antony Johnston
Emma	Kaoru Mori
I Am the Cheese	Robert Cormier
Empire of Ivory: Temeraire Bk. 4	Naomi Novik
Throne of Jade	Naomi, Novik
Victory of Eagles	Naomi Novik
Blue Heaven	C.J. Box
Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms	Fumiyo Kouno
Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Dog Days: Book 4	Jeff Kinney
Blood Rites	Jim Butcher
Freedom	Jonathan Franzen
Prima di sparire	Mauro Covacich
Un giorno verrò a lanciare sassi alla tua finestra	Claudia Durastanti
Les enfants du néant	Olivier Descosse
Bitter Seeds	Ian Tregillis
Wuthering Heights (Collins Classics)	Emily Brontë
Sandman Slim	Richard Kadrey
La ronde des innocents	Valentin Musso
Tongues of Serpents	Naomi Novik
The Dervish House	Ian Mcdonald
Punish the Sinners	John Saul
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth	Jeff Kinney
Okay for Now	Gary D. Schmidt
Il gioco degli specchi	Andrea Camilleri
Before I Go to Sleep	S J Watson
Blankets	Craig Thompson
Le passager	Jean-Christophe Grangé
Il mercante di libri maledetti	Marcello Simoni
All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky	Joe R. Lansdale
Reamde	Neal Stephenson
Habibi	Craig Thompson
Incidences	Philippe Djian
La valle delle donne lupo	Laura Pariani
La Forza del destino	Marco Vichi
Bakuman vol. 11	Takeshi Obata, Tsugumi Ohba
La carta più alta	Marco Malvaldi
Bakuman vol. 12	Takeshi Obata, Tsugumi Ohba
Bakuman	Tsugumi Ohba
Wild Thing	Josh Bazell
I'm Starved for You	Margaret Atwood
Crucible of Gold	Naomi Novik
L'appel de l'ange	Guillaume Musso
Bakuman, Vol. 10	Tsugumi Ohba
Respiro corto	Massimo Carlotto
La legge della giungla	Enrico Brizzi
Invictus	Simone Sarasso
Tu sei il male	Roberto Costantini
The Drowned Cities	Paolo Bacigalupi
Ufficio di scollocamento	Simone Perotti, Paolo Ermani
L'été tous les chats s'ennuient	Philippe Georget
The Janus Affair	Pip Ballantine
Una lama di luce	Andrea Camilleri
Bakuman vol. 15	Takeshi Obata, Tsugumi Ohba
The Perks of Being a Wallflower	Stephen Chbosky
San Miguel	T.C. Boyle
The Casual Vacancy	J.K. Rowling
The Coldest War	Ian Tregillis
La notte alle mie spalle	Giampaolo Simi

Volagi Viaje, a daydreamer's bike

A guy rolls down his truck’s window. “Cool Bike,” he says, “love those curvy lines.” I thank him, the lights turns green, and we go. No one had complimented my ride since the times I was on a flame red Ducati 900. Instead I’m pedaling my blue Volagi Viaje XL.

So know first that wherever you’re going to ride, the flashy Viaje will attract attention. And why shouldn’t it? It’s a gorgeous bicycle! For me it was love at first sight: this is the bike I had been looking for. Drop bars and road attitude on a comfortable steel frame with cross attitude. I also loved the very idea of the Kickstarter initiative, that allowed me to put my eager hands on this bike early, while providing Volagi with the necessary cash to start production. Crowd-funded, innovative projects are the way of the future. 

The  final product exceeds my expectations. Components are top-notch. I love the compact FSA Wing handlebars, easy to dive into on quick downhills, safely mastered by the Avid disk brakes. I was new to non-regular brakes, and I had to learn a thing of two about them: first, don’g grab a handful, the rear wheel is easily blocked by the extra braking power, sending the newbie rider in a spectacular but unwanted derapage. Fine tuning of one’s grip might be necessary. The SRAM system was surprisingly quick to master, and so far it looks speedy  and reliable. The Victoria Randonneur the bike ships with are my favorite all-around tire, but you’ll need knobbier rubber for anything muddy or wet, although they made it quite fun to spin the wheels on the sandy terrain over the bluffs along the Santa Barbara coast. They will handle well any dry irregular surface, including gravel, and best most road tires on the paved roads. 

How does it ride? “Nimble,” “maneuverable,” and “quick” are the first words that come to mind. The bike feels lighter than any steel framed ride should be. Even the Fedex delivery man couldn’t believe a whole bike was inside the big box. And this is the lesser, XL model, the SL is probably quite close to my carbon racer. 

The bike was well put together, with one minor glitch, a brake cable routed on the wrong side of the fork was rubbing against the front wheel. That was easy to fix and probably due to the rush to get these babies out for Christmas. It’s difficult to find any issues with the bike. Sure, the seat had to go after the inaugural ride. I might be picky “down there,” my point of contact needs to be from Selle Italia, or I’ll deeply regret it halfway into the ride. If you are like me, you probably go for a saddle transplant on any new bike.

Do you remember how fun it was to ride your bike as a kid?  Forget for an instant about commuting, or heartbeat-monitoring, calorie-burning road racing. Think back about the days where you just went where your fancy took you, day dreaming all the way, lost in imaginary adventures. Do you remember all that? Well, I sure do. And guess what, now I’ll be able to keep doing it.