CHRIS RIGGOTT has been talking of his love of books after being asked to take part in the Premier League Reading Stars initiative.

The scheme aims to encourage people of all ages to read more books and use their local libraries.

And Chris has been nominated Boro's Reading Champion, selecting his favourite book The Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay, for a list that will be used to inspire families across the country to read.

"I had the opportunity to take the project up and I do a fair bit of reading and I think it's important to send out a message to young people that reading is important," said Chris as he explained why he has become involved in the scheme.

"As players we are in a bit of a bubble with football, it's easy to have a one-track mind, but I find that reading really stretches your thinking and keeps your mind ticking over.

"Nowadays kids spent a lot of time on computers or on their Playstations and the educational side of things can get left out and I think you can learn a lot from reading books."

Chris was recommended to read The Power of One by his brother and he found it an inspirational story.

"I loved the story," he said. "It's the story of an underdog, a young boy who has a really rough upbringing and he really battles to get through school where he gets bullied.

"It's a classic story of the underdog and he comes through it with flying colours even though everything is thrown at him.

"I just really enjoyed the story and found it really moving and thought it was really motivational."

Chris has always enjoyed reading books and was a member of his local library from an early age.

He said: "I preferred going out kicking a ball around, but I've always enjoyed reading, its one of those activities that I enjoyed doing at home.

"We were encouraged to do it by our parents and at school and I did English Literature and Language for my A-levels and I just really enjoyed it."

"We used to get the story tapes when we were really young and then we progressed onto getting books. We also had a mobile library that would come around to our school, and we used to hop on board the truck and pick up a book, it was really good."

Chris has just finished reading Dan Borwn's The Da Vinci Code and the follow up Angels and Demons, although he admits he found the second one disappointing.

He finds reading an ideal way to relax on long journeys to games as Boro look to continue their recent upturn in form.

"There's definitely a bit of a buzz around the place at the moment because of the UEFA cup and FA Cup and we've turned our league form around a bit and hopefully we can push on now and have a good end to the season," he said.

His dream is to book a place in at least one of the two cup finals the team are now targeting.

"It would be nice to win either the FA or the UEFA Cup and to secure a place in the Premiership and hopefully push up the table a little bit as at the moment we are too low down," he said.

Other players have selected a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books, including Dan Brown's bestselling thriller "The Da Vinci Code" (Kevin Davies, Bolton Wanderers), Roald Dahl's classic "Matilda" (Stephen Caldwell, Sunderland) and Lance Armstrong's inspirational autobiography "It's Not About The Bike" (Stephen Clemence, Birmingham City).

Premier League Reading Stars is a partnership between the National Literacy Trust, Arts Council England, Football Foundation and the Premier League and will be supported by a series of family reading groups at libraries across the country.

All clubs have adopted at least one library, which receives free copies of all the listed titles.

Participants have the chance to meet an author, and take part in a series of football based literacy games throughout the initiative.

Neil McClelland, Director of the National Literacy Trust, said: "Children who grow up in a home where reading is valued are being given the best start in life.

"By tapping into people's passion for football and providing positive role models, Premier League Reading Stars is able to inspire families to enjoy reading and sharing books together."

Visit MFC Retail's online club shop for a full range of Boro books, including Riverside X, the story of a decade at the new stadium. Click here to go there now.