East of Eden preamble

A while ago I named five books to read by the end of January in the Stacks Winter Challenge and as part of that the next book on that list is East of Eden by John Steinbeck and although it might not seem like it i have started - only just and wanted to comment that he sets the book up with the history of the Salinas valley in Northern Califorinia looking first at the physical geography and then at the history with the Indians, Spanish and then Americans all having their influence on the landscape and place names. Might not do too much reading tomorrow but will start in earnest on Tuesday.