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My 100 Book Year

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 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 - you can do it on my JustGiving page. 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. 

Thanks very much for your support!


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