The New Release section of a bookstore does have a certain appeal to it; the bright colours and literary designs hint at what lies within the pages. But there is more to a bookstore, and indeed, more to literature, than the latest stories to hit the shelves.

Perhaps you haven’t set foot in a bookstore for a while (what’s wrong with you?) or perhaps you want to expand your literary knowledge, fear not! I’ve put together a list of my favourite older books which I will release in stages over the next few weeks. Stay tuned, and please let me know what your favourites are; I can never have too many books on the ‘to be read shelf’.

Top 3 books over 5 years

I wrote about What Alice Forgot earlier in the year, so you can read the full description here. Liane Moriarty has such beautiful control of her craft that nothing is wasted in the published books. While you won’t find this book in the New Release section, it is worth searching it out to support a talented Australian author.

The Book Thief is about a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany, with a slight twist; the book is narrated by Death. Markus Zusak could have used a random character as the narrator, or have an omniscient (God-like) narrator, but no, he decided to do something different. The result is a book which describes the colour of the morning sky in the most exquisite words and allows the reader an insight into the trials and emotions of a young girl, from a safe distance. If you are a book lover, you will find something to relate to in The Book Thief.

I recently found Things I Want My Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble at a charity book shop and am truly grateful. A mother who is dying leaves letters to her four daughters, explaining where they fit in the world, why she loved them and her hopes for them in the future. The book takes place in the year after the mother’s death and while she is not a living character within these pages, her voice is very strong. The four daughters manage their grief in very different ways and without a mother to turn to for advice, they turn to each other. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t, but this is a book which could speak to any woman with sisters.