I donned a bow tie for the first time since March yesterday to record the announcement of the 2020 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards. It was VERY NERVE-RACKING. Not the tie, although I was happy that I remembered how to tie one, but the PowerPoint/video dance, where I’m announcing the names of the winners and riding herd on a slide deck at the same time. But it’s done with just one flub, quickly recovered, and you can see it at SLJ’s virtual Day of Dialog next Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. EST, and the announcement posted shortly thereafter on hbook.com. 

You can always see a handy list of what’s new on the website at our Week in Review post every Friday. The big project this week, created by Cindy and Shoshana, is a salute to bookstores and libraries; specifically to their shelves. A trip down memory lane! But as Critter and Shosh remind you, there are plenty of ways to demonstrate your support for these institutions, so get busy. 

I’ve been thinking about Marthe Jocelyn’s essay about mystery-writing as I’ve been getting acquainted with G. K. Chesterton’s sleuthing priest Father Brown. Conan Doyle is all I know from that era in mysteries, and there are some intriguing distinctions in the rules of evidence, etc., between them. Chesterton’s sense of humor seems a bit further along, too, but of course there is all that Catholicism. I watched a few of the BBC episodes of their adaptation; Father Brown — as played by Mark Williams — is pretty much drawn from the page, but the era’s been pushed forward about half a century, and everyone (except Father!) is having tons of sex. 

Have a good holiday weekend, everybody; and don’t forget to take a dip into our Summer Reading list. I do hope those of you who normally get weekends remember to observe and enjoy them, even if you don’t get to go outside. You know there is a dirty weekend happening right now in Father Brown’s little village; maybe you could have one of your own? 

Roger Sutton
Editor in Chief
The Horn Book, Inc.