After it has emerged that ONE IN FIVE SCOTS STRUGGLE WITH READING, the Scottish Government led by Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Fiona Hyslop, supported by the National Literary Trust, has launched a campaign.
Using professional footballers in their advertising, the campaign encourages families to tackle literature whilst the choices of the selected footballers will provide a much-needed public relations boost to a group of professionals often mocked for leading materialistic and uncultured lives.
Twelve players from the Scottish Premier League have named their top works, among them books by a 19th-century French author and a harrowing portrayal of Holocaust survival.
Two footballers – Hibernian's Joe Keenan and Aberdeen's Jamie Smith – opted for Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo, a novel which deals with grand and timeless themes: a fragile hope nurtured in a time of despair; vengeance sparked by injustice; and the perils of greed.
Mark Reynolds, a prodigious young defender for Motherwell, selected The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay's examination of prejudice in apartheid South Africa.
Tomas Cerny, meanwhile, Hamilton Academical's Czech goalkeeper, selected Art Spiegelman's Maus: My Father Bleeds History, an elegant yet harrowing graphic novel study of Holocaust survival.
Explaining his bedside reading habits, Mr Reynolds, 21, suggested a good book helped him prepare mentally for games.
"It also helps me relax after a busy training schedule, playing matches, and everyday chores.
"It can build up your motivation after reading about people who inspire by difficulties which they have to overcome in life, and this can assist in making me move forward and try to achieve my aims in life," he said.
Other motivational books are revered by players. Michael Stewart, the Hearts midfielder, chose Malcolm Gladwell's The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking, while two stars – Rangers' Steven Naismith and Danny Invincibile of Kilmarnock – took heart from Lance Armstrong's tale of overcoming adversity, It's Not About The Bike.
Twelve players from the Scottish Premier League have named their top works, among them books by a 19th-century French author and a harrowing portrayal of Holocaust survival.
Two footballers – Hibernian's Joe Keenan and Aberdeen's Jamie Smith – opted for Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo, a novel which deals with grand and timeless themes: a fragile hope nurtured in a time of despair; vengeance sparked by injustice; and the perils of greed.
Mark Reynolds, a prodigious young defender for Motherwell, selected The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay's examination of prejudice in apartheid South Africa.
Tomas Cerny, meanwhile, Hamilton Academical's Czech goalkeeper, selected Art Spiegelman's Maus: My Father Bleeds History, an elegant yet harrowing graphic novel study of Holocaust survival.
Explaining his bedside reading habits, Mr Reynolds, 21, suggested a good book helped him prepare mentally for games.
"It also helps me relax after a busy training schedule, playing matches, and everyday chores.
"It can build up your motivation after reading about people who inspire by difficulties which they have to overcome in life, and this can assist in making me move forward and try to achieve my aims in life," he said.
Other motivational books are revered by players. Michael Stewart, the Hearts midfielder, chose Malcolm Gladwell's The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking, while two stars – Rangers' Steven Naismith and Danny Invincibile of Kilmarnock – took heart from Lance Armstrong's tale of overcoming adversity, It's Not About The Bike.
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