I think I do what everyone does, which is to have multiple books on the go at any one time. I’ve got the book that I fall asleep to, something you get for free on the Kindle and you don’t really care what happens in it. I’ve got the book that sits by my bed that I really should read, but I never get to even though it’s been there for years. That’s Shuggie Bain and I know it’s supposed to be really, really good, but because I also know that it’s going to be sad so I keep putting it off. 

But the one I have just finished reading is John & Paul: A Love Story In Songs which is just a gorgeous book. Ian Leslie, the author, has this hypothesis that, even though The Beatles didn’t write autobiographical songs, everything that was going on in their lives bubbled up and came through the cracks in the music. He looks at their friendship and their relationship through the songs, it’s about male friendship but in that unimaginable world that they lived in. They’re the only four people who know what it’s like to be teenage boys and then…The Beatles. It’s a wonderful book. 

I also enjoyed Craig Brown’s book about The Beatles, One, Two, Three, Four and I hope I’m not speaking out of turn here, but that was a recommendation from Sir Alex Ferguson. We were chatting before an interview and he said he was enjoying it. I hadn’t heard of it and I was very confused as to why the former Scotland manager had written it, but he was very quick to point out, “No, not that one.”

Everything is very busy now with the new job, but I do still get some time to read. When I’m on the train heading to work, I tend to use all of the time doing prep, flicking through notes on the game – I’d feel guilty if I just relaxed and read a paperback. But on the way back it’s much easier to settle into one. 

I used to read loads. I used to work my way through the Booker List every year, not as an intellectual exercise, but just because I love reading and I always have. But that changed a little after the lockdown. I feel like I don’t have the capacity for certain subjects anymore. Sometimes the world feels so awful that I just want to read fun, escapist books.

Kelly Cates is one of three new hosts of the BBC’s Match of the Day. You can follow her on Instagram here.