Organize a New Group

New groups are forming all the time. If you don’t find one near you or if the group in your area is at capacity, please consider creating a new one. It’s easy and fun to do. Groups can meet virtually via Zoom, in-person at a local restaurant, coffee shop or library, at a member’s home, or in a rotation of members’ homes. “If you build it, they will come.”

For assistance, contact Reading Group Coordinator Nancy Gallagher. Send your updates for your reading group to JASNASWNews@gmail.com.

Learn More

Select one of the groups below to learn about upcoming meetings, previous book selections and more!

Although San Diego is a separate JASNA region, many JASNA Southwest members are interested in San Diego JASNA events and vice versa. Visit the JASNA San Diego website for more information.

Reading, Film and Game Groups

JASNA Southwest offers more than a dozen reading groups that meet regularly to explore works not only by and about Jane Austen but also by her literary influences, her contemporaries, those who followed her and even current authors whose novels are in some way relevant to our appreciation of Austen.

The region also features two groups that play Austen-related and Regency-era games Austen or her characters actually played, as well as a new film group.

Each group determines its own schedule and selections. Some groups organize potluck meals, alternate hosting duties or ask members to pack a lunch. A few meet at a fixed location, while others take turns in member’s homes or in local libraries and other venues.

Since our region spans Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties, JASNA Southwest groups give members the opportunity to gather with other Austen aficionados close to home.

Members of the San Gabriel Valley Reading Group at the January 2017 Jane Austen Evening

Long Beach Reading Group

Riverside Reading Group

West Los Angeles Reading Group

Westside/405 Reading Group

Santa Monica Reading Group