Last week Penguin launched a dating site in association with match.com. The book publisher, part of Pearson, which also owns the Financial Times, claims the site will offer readers “a place to meet and indulge in the age-old art of writing love letters”. Lonely hearts will be asked to name the last thing they read, and can hunt for potential mates by searching for mention of their favourite titles. Don’t stop at judging a book by its cover, then – judge the person who is reading it too.

This is not the first time Penguin has tried to sex up reading – in 2004 it ran an advertising campaign to persuade men that reading would make them attractive. “Good booking women want good booking men” was the slogan (“Pick up a Penguin” was already taken).