I keep thinking I don't talk enough about books here, and then I get on some rant -- there is SO much to rant about -- or the river does something wonderful (like yesterday's huge windstorm in the bright sunshine, with water splashing all over the walkway) that I forget. But I don't want to forget this one. Get out your pencils and write this down: DIAMOND RUBY. This is my buddy Joe Wallace's first novel -- his, like 147th book, but the rest were non-fiction so he's changed his uniform now -- and it's terrific. Brooklynites take note: almost every bit of it is set in Brooklyn. Baseball lovers take note: there's a lot of baseball in it. (Baseball haters take note: no actual play-by-play, no games.) History lovers take note: it's set in the nineteen-teens and twenties. Good book lovers take note: it's completely absorbing, one of those don't-bother-me-I'm-reading books like when you were a kid. And speaking of kids, though it wasn't written as a YA, it's a great YA read if you happen to have a teenager around the house.