4 . What does it mean to cry over a book? “I’m a reader who did not weep.” Ruth Graham, a well-known critic, wrote. “Does this make me heartless? Or does it make me a grown-up?”

Tears have played a surprisingly important part in the history of the novel. Readers have always asked about the role that emotion plays in reading: What does it mean to be deeply moved by a book? Which books are worthy objects of our feelings?

In different times, people answered those questions in different ways. In the 18th century, when the novel was still a new form, crying was a sign of readers’ virtue. “Sentimental” novels, full of touching scenes, gave readers an occasion to exercise their “finer feelings”. Your tear proved your susceptibility (易感性) to the suffering of others.

At that time, sentimental novels were hugely popular, but also easy to attack. Tears, after all, had no necessary connection to actual virtue, and they could be fake. There could also be too many of them. As the critic John Mullan points out, by the end of the eighteenth century, the word “sentimental” had acquired a new meaning “addicted to indulgence (沉溺) in superficial (肤浅的) emotion”—bringing it closer to the meaning that it has for us today.

In the 19th century the meaning of tears evolved in two different directions. Some writers sought to waken “higher” feelings in their readers: Victorian sentimentalists wrote touching scenes in an effort to inspire social and political reform. However, the “sensation” novel, a different type of Victorian best-seller, showed that tears could be enjoyable in themselves. Sensation novels were the forerunners (先导) of the modern thriller and mystery. Heavy on secrets, and madness, they were known for creating physical “sensations” in their readers— trembling, a fast beating heart, and tears. But these were tears without moral purpose or effect.

Today’s debate about crying while reading looks back on all of this history. The debate, in fact, is about why books matter to us, and what reading is “for”. Talking about what makes us cry is a way of talking about ourselves.

6 . Here are some works of writers who got famous by writing just one book.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

It was written in just 3 weeks and released in 1890 in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine and it brought an enormous amount of reputation to the author instantly. After the publication of the novel, a huge popular anger erupted in society. People called it immoral and tried to ban it. But the book turned out to be the most successful novel of the playwright (剧作家) Oscar Wilde.

Winnie-the-Pooh

Alan Milne was quite a famous playwright before releasing the stories about Winnie-the-Pooh. But the success of the books became so famous that all of his other works went far into the shadows. Milne didn’t like that he was considered a children’s writer. As sad a sit might sound, his works for kids tuned out to be like Frankenstein’s monster the creature that swallowed its creator.

The Catcher in the Rye

In the 1940s, Salinger gained a reputation of a skillful novelist. However, the author faced real success after he released his novel The Catcher in the Rye in 1951. The book, written about a 17-year-old teenager, experienced popularity and earned the love of readers all around the world. Surprisingly, the author forbade any adaptations of the book into movies or theatrical performances.

Wuthering Heights

Unlike her sister, Charlotte, poet Emily Bronte only wrote one novel. It was published in 1847 and stayed almost unnoticed during the author’s life. The novel got universal recognition in the late 19th century and took a strong place in English literature. The novel has been screened many times in the 20th century.

7 . My favorite novel is Albert Camus's The Plague(鼠疫). It was published in 1947, after Word WarⅡ.

On the surface, it's a story about an Algerian coastal town threatened by a mysterious plague. But the symbolic idea works on the concrete presentation of a metaphysical(形而上学的) problem, which is the cruel fact of suffering. Like the plague, it's just a thing that happens in the world whether we want it to or not. Camus's novel asks if we can think of suffering not as an individual burden but as a shared experience—and maybe turn it into something positive.

The key is to recognize the universality of suffering. A plague is an extraordinary event and the horror it results in is extraordinary, too. But suffering is anything but extraordinary. Every day you leave the house, something terrible could happen. The same is true for all. All of us are subject to forces over which we have no control.

A pandemic(大流行病) forces us to think about our responsibilities to the people around us. The hero of The Plague is a committed doctor named Rieux. From the very beginning, Rieux devotes himself to resisting the plague that united its victims. Each character in the story is defined(刻画) by what they do when the plague comes. No one escapes it, but those who reduce the suffering of others are the most fulfilled. The only villains are those who cannot see beyond themselves. The plague, for these people, is either an excuse to flee or an opportunity to make profits. Because they can't see that their condition is shared, a spirit of unity is completely foreign to them. And that blindness makes community impossible.

At the very end of The Plague, Camus stated his philosophy that the struggle against suffering is never over for good. The plague will return, and so will everything else that upsets humans. But the point of the book is that a shared struggle is what makes community possible in the first place.

A pandemic, terrible though it is, highlights our mutual interdependence in a way that only tragedy can. The beauty of The Plague is that it asks the reader to map the lessons of the pandemic onto everyday life. The principles that drive the hero, Rieux, are the same principles that make every society worthwhile—understanding, love and unity.

If we learn these lessons, in a moment of crisis, we'll all be better off on the other side of it.

8 . On June 9, 1870, Charles Dickens died at the age of 58. The next day, a headline in The New York Times   read: "Death of the Great Novelist … Mourned by the People of Two   Continents."

    1     Even today, the British novelist is loved by readers all over the world. Dickens created some of the most unforgettable characters   in English   literature. You must have heard   of or even read some of his novels: Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities.    2     Since 1897, there have been more than   300 film and television   adaptations   of Dickens' works.

Natalie McKnight is a literature   professor who studies Dickens and his works.    3     One important reason, she says, is that Dickens wrote from his heart. He tried hard to produce emotional effects among his readers. A Christmas Carol, for example, was written to make every reader think about how they could make a difference to their society. People always enjoy works that make them laugh out loud, cry and think. Many other 19th century novelists wrote entertaining works.    4    

Dickens wrote about situations and emotions that still interest people today. He used his pen to fight social inequality and gave voice to the poor.    5    

This coming June marks the 150th year of Dickens' death. It's another chance to remember this great writer. Will you read (or re-read) some of his most famous works?

9 . The Costa Book Awards consistently pick winners that are both of the moment and subsequently endure. It's our pleasure to confirm this year’s Category Winners.

First Novel Award Winner

Book: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Author: Gail Honeyman

Eleanor is 31 years old; work finishes on a Friday and begins again on a Monday. Between, her only company will be two bottles of vodka and her own solitary, unique wit (机智). It is contentment, of a kind, but an unexpected shared experience suddenly opens the door to possibility. Challenging reader expectations with a living, breathing character, Gail Honeyman’s debut (初次登台、开张)is a funny and moving diamond.

Biography Award Winner

Book: In the Days of Rain

Author: Rebecca Stott

The Exclusive Brethren were a closed community who believed the world is ruled by Satan. Into this is born Rebecca. Her father had been an influential Brethren Minister. As her father lay dying, he begged her to help him write the memoir. He wanted to tell the story of their family who for generations had all been members of a fundamentalist Christian sect.

Poetry Award Winner

Book: Inside the Wave

Author: Helen Dunmore

To be alive is to be inside the wave, always travelling until it breaks and is gone. These poems are concerned with the borderline between the living and the dead — the underworld and the human living world – and the acutely intense being of both.

Children's Award Winner

Book: The Explorer

Author: Katherine Rundell, Hannah Horn

Four children survive their aircraft plunging into the Amazon jungle, but for Fred and his friends it’s only the beginning of a cruel battle for survival. Brimming with adventure and a real command of character and incident, Rundell has few peers in superb children's fiction.

10 . Whether they’re for a teenager or not, all great stories have certain elements: they have interesting characters we enjoy reading about; they show these characters in a world we can recognize and understand.

    1     The main character faces a problem, usually quite a serious one. The thing that most draws us to reading the story is the way the character deals with the problem—whether the character gets the better of it, or it gets the better of the character.

Characters in a book for young adults are generally young adults themselves.     2     On the one hand, they’re not children anymore. They’re growing up and want to stretch their wings. On the other hand, they’re not yet adults. They can’t do certain things, as they’re not yet able to do them or because the world tells them that they can’t.

To make things even more complicated, almost all young adults feel at some point that the whole growing－up process is happening too quickly.     3    

This year, TEENS has selected seven of the ten books, nominated (提名) for the US 2017 National Book Awards in the categories of Young People’s Literature.

Some stories are specifically written for teenagers or young adults, meaning that their authors are very sensitive to the “in－between” nature of teenage life. They’re about problems that appear for young people because of tensions between them and their parents and teachers, their siblings (兄弟姐妹)，or wider society. Often, these problems are presented very seriously by writers.     4    

At the same time, fiction isn’t supposed to be just about the challenges people face in life, but also about how people overcome those problems.     5     They discover something about themselves that they never knew before, and which enables them to succeed. And the solution that they find opens the future up to them, setting them on the path to adulthood.