I post our numbers just about every year, and every year somebody gets mad at me. Apparently, I don't include enough disclaimers because I assume facts speak for themselves. So I have included some important reminders this time for the sake of clarity.
Total eligible books nominated: 1,289
Disclaimer: Yours wasn't eligible because a) it came out in the wrong year or b) you didn't write one.
Books read by at least one panelist: 1,284 or 99 percent.
Disclaimer: Yes, we read your book. It didn't make the short list because we don't like your looks.
Books read by at least 2 panelists: 1,262 or 98 percent.
Disclaimer: Yes, we read your book. I swear.
Unread books: 5
Disclaimer: Will you stop? It wasn't yours. Honestly.
Panelists with the most books read:
Rebecca Reid and Debbie Nance with 260 apiece.
Disclaimer: They're in fiction picture books, which are shorter than novels. Still more books than many people read in a lifetime.
Panelist with the most pages read:
Hallie Tibbets, with 48,665 pages read
Disclaimer: Page counts reflect the total pages in the book and not the point where Hallie got disgusted and tossed the darn thing across the room.
Remember to check back tomorrow night after midnight my time (because I am the center of the universe, of course) for our finalists. That's 2:01 am Eastern and 11:01 pm Pacific.
See you then!
–Anne Levy, Cybils admin.