Pyrite Slate, 2018

It’s official! We have done it! We named our winner last week, and now we’ve got our honor books. Votes came in, spreadsheets were made, and many other things happened — and it was all done in the passive voice, I guess.

But who can think about grammar, really, when we have a completely fictional award to give out!? Once again, you’ll have to imagine me with Bachelor-ish roses, and an intense close up on my face — and I guess all the authors’ faces, because OF COURSE they would join a reality TV version of the Pyrite, right? — with striking music playing to really heighten the tension. Click through for our slate!

So, as usual, things are quite interesting in the data-strewn background of the Pyrite. Things start out pretty clear-cut: Long Way Down got 56 total points, and also received the majority of the first place votes. The chart below gives you an idea of the first point vote distribution (click to enlarge):

But here is where things get interesting, and in order to show you, I’m going to give you a graph with the point spread overall. Check it out:

This means that Thick as Thieves, with 23 points total, would be the next title on the slate. (Thick as Thieves also got the second-most second place votes — because LWD got a slight majority there, too). The chart below gives you an idea of what the second place votes look like:

So things get a little more interesting (read: “clumped together”) after that.

Strange the Dreamer came in with 19 points total, while 57 Bus is just behind with 18 points. Landscape with Invisible Hand has 15 points, and this is where RealCommittee would cut everything off.

We could do that, too — simply keep it to our top four titles. That’s simple, neat, and does the job. But if you look at the points, In Other Lands and Midnight at the Electric each have 14 points, which is soveryclose to Landscape. Maybe too close? And really, with such a wide margin between LWD and Thick as Thieves, I’m almost inclined to cut it off at one honor book.

That would give our Pyrite slate two titles, and would look like this: The Hate U Give (winner) and Long Way Down (honor).

Impressive, no?

Of course, this is a committee, and not just MY decision. What do you all think? Feel free to take a look at the actual spreadsheet and speak your mind in the comments!

Filed under: Books to look for, Pyrite