Before moving across the country and becoming the children’s book editor of the New York Times Book Review, Maria Russo spent 10 years in Southern California. As a former Los Angeles Times staffer and editor of Pasadena Magazine, Russo remains a fan of the area and one of its oldest …

Let me start with a confession: I’m a British male in my late twenties, I have a degree in literature and consider myself a feminist, but until the summer of 2018 I had never read a Jane Austen novel. Or a novel by Charlotte Brontë. Or, indeed, an Emily Brontë …

1. Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown (1973) Brown broke new ground with her lesbian love affair, and in doing so, gave permission for many girls to put aside their JuicyFruit gum to embrace the rubyfruit inside. With a lot of humor and an “Everydyke” quality, this 1973 novel remains …