Daniela liked a trivia question:
In A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, why did Rasheed lock his wives up for nearly 3 days without food or water? see if you know the answer »

Daniela read and liked Lori's review of The Diaries of Adam and Eve (Hesperus Press):

"Bought this at the used book store today, and read in the car between grabbing lunch and christmas shopping.

I haven't read Twain since middle school; I have a hazy recollection of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer getting into mischief. I ...more Bought this at the used book store today, and read in the car between grabbing lunch and christmas shopping.

I haven't read Twain since middle school; I have a hazy recollection of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer getting into mischief. I was not sure what to expect, but what I expected was far inferior to what I read.

Twain breathes life into Adam and Eve in a way that I've known only one other author to do (David Maine - in his biblical fiction novels).

Beginning the day after her creation, we follow the diaries of Eve and of Adam. Filled with confusion, curiosity, and a wickedly innocent need to discover and explore, Eve is introduced as the brighter, more aggressive half. She has the ability to talk to and tame the wild animals, and gives names to everything in sight. In contrast, we see Adam, lounging in the tree branches, hiding from the talkative Eve, creating shelter from the weather as she frollicks among the flowers.

Of course, we follow their stories to the Tree of Knowledge, watch as their Garden becomes a savage, unsafe land, and share in their separate reactions to the birth of their first child, Cain.

While Twain's idea of modern woman came across in this collection of diary entries - she being known to annoy Adam with her endless chatter, falling into the pond after staring at her own reflection, being sensitive to Adam's moods and wanting to do things to please him - it was done in a tastefully, harmlessly, almost humorously.

I will certainly be adding more Twain to my to-be-read shelves now.

(less) "