Saturday, April 25, 2015

Reading around the world -- reading Jane Austen in Davis, California

Moving south from Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California, I have arrived in the Sacramento Valley in Davis -- "the most bicycle friendly town in the world". 


For Davis, I read Karen Joy Fowler's book The Jane Austen Book Club. Other literary Davis natives are Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn), John Lescroart (the Dismas Hardy novels), Deborah Madison (cookbook author), Kim Stanley Robinson (the Mars trilogy), Sean Stewart (Resurrection Man trilogy), and Zach Weiner (webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal).

The biggest employer in Davis is the University of California which has campus there. It is also the home of the California Northern Railroad.

The average temperature (year-round) is 47.8-74.7 Fahrenheit. The highest temperature ever recorded was 116 F in July 1925 and the lowest was 12 F in December 1932. 

Indeed, in the book, the climate is described as follows: 

"The climate in the Valley was classified as Mediterranean, which meant that everything died in the summer. The native grasses went brown and stiff. The creeks disappeared. The oaks turned gray."

The book is very entertaining, especially for a fan of Jane Austen like me. The book even came with a couple fun appendices, one all of quotes of people's opinions of Austen and her works.

The sense of place in the book was very good in places, not so good in others. Essentially the book is a book of people all linked by the wonderful Miss Jane. 

Please check out my review at Goodreads!

The mere habit of learning to love is the thing.
~Jane Austen

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