Every year, I see people doing things with their lives to support worthy causes. They run marathons; climb mountains; enter tedious white-collar boxing matches. And every year, I realise there is just no way I can do any of that. My lungs would collapse; I’d topple off base-camp; my knuckles would fall off. Fundraising is difficult for people who have no life-skills.

And then I remembered: I can read. Admittedly this isn’t a huge boast in the Western world, sitting somewhere between being able to tie your shoelaces and knowing how to make toast. But nonetheless, I can put it to good use.

So in 2018, I’m going to read and review 100 books. On average that’s a book every 3.65 days, maths fans. A YouGov survey suggests the average number of books read per year in the UK is around 10. Last year I managed to read 85 books – and that was going full-pelt, so this is going to be a hell of a stretch. A full Stretch Armstrong’s worth.

I’m also going to be reading books exclusively by women, from a range of different backgrounds – fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, and the
odd play.

Since I’ll be benefitting so much from women authors, I’ll be taking sponsorship for a woman-focused charity – the incredible Refuge. They support women and children who are fleeing domestic abuse – a crime that disproportionately affects women. Chances are upsettingly high that we’ll all know a woman affected by domestic violence at some point in our lives. Refuge supports 5500 women and children every single day, and yet their funding is suffering cuts year after year. Just £52 will pay for a mother and her children to stay somewhere safe for a night.

So if you’d like to sponsor me per book, or just make a single donation on the (probably unwise) bet that I’ll actually get through all 100, I’d be  overwhelmingly grateful. If you’re a UK citizen, don’t forget to Gift Aid it too – it’ll bump up your donation quite a bit. 

I’ll be posting progress updates and reviews of the books too, so you can follow along and monitor my increasing panic levels. I'll be blogging my reviews and updates here: https://the100bookyear.blogspot.co.uk/

Thanks very much for your support!