Anyone familiar with his Nietzsche-filled Twitter feed won’t be surprised to hear that footballer Joey Barton likes a good read.
Now in a bid to encourage fans to pick up the habit, the Queens Park Rangers captain has joined the Premier League Reading Stars (PLRS) initiative.
Ran by the National Literacy Trust, the scheme brings together stars from the game to discuss their favourite books.
Barton’s choice? Not the Pocket Book of Philosophical Quotations but Dracula, by Bram Stoker.
"I was really interested in ghouls and goblins and scary stuff. I tend to watch a lot of programmes on Transylvania and the conspiracy theories surrounding it which has all stemmed from my love of this book.
"If I was stranded on a desert island, this is the book I would take with me."
Barton added that his favourite children’s book is The Witches by Roald Dahl.
This year the scheme will be aimed at primary and secondary school pupils who are struggling with literacy. The PLRS is hoping 30,000 kids will take part in a project that, in recent years, has been proven a huge success.
In 2010 71% of the pupils who took part said they read more often after discovering footballers enjoy a good book.
Jonathan Douglas, director of the National Literacy Trust, said: "Our research shows that a quarter of boys (28.3%) say that a sports person could inspire them to read. So getting footballers on board gives us a new and powerful strategy to get boys reading."
Other players taking part this year includ Charlie Adam from Liverpool, Manchester City midfielder Owen Hargreaves, Everton’s Tim Cahill and Fulham’s Mark Schwarzer
Not to doubt the integrity of their motives for joining in, but taking part can’t hurt the footballers’ image either. Who knew for example that Wayne Rooney - favourite book: Harry Potter - could actually read, before he took part in 2009?