It’s spring, though you’d be hard pressed to know that by our often mercurial and moody weather.

Even so, it’s time to dust off the shelves and give new life to some oldies, but goodies. I’m talking books here.

So, rather than present you with a list of hot off the press reads, as I usually do, I’m going to share with you a few overlooked gems.

“There are a lot of shelf-sitters that get overshadowed by some of the more popular, bigger named books,” comments Pam Hunter, teen services librarian at the Woodinville Library. “People either forget about them or they don’t even know they exist because the others get so much attention. And just because they’re not as well-known, it doesn’t mean their value is diminished in any way.”

For adult readers, Hunter’s colleague, Chris Sorenson, recommends “A Very Long Engagement” by Sebastian Japrisot, a story about the fiancé of a French soldier who is executed for cowardice during World War I and her dogged pursuit of the truth of his demise. Sorenson comments that the book is a “mystery and a love story, a meditation on the nature of identity and much more.”

He also suggests “The Risk Pool” by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo, which just might be Russo’s best book, in Sorenson’s opinion. It’s a coming of age story of a boy who is shaped by the war between his feckless father and mentally ill mother.

Others on Sorenson’s list include “The Main” by Travanian, a deeply affecting mystery featuring an aging detective going about his work as the world passes him by; “The Reykjavik Mysteries” by Icelandic author, Arnaldur Indriason; and “The Jukebox Queen of Malta” by Nicolas Rinaldi, which Sorenson says is “as zany as Catch-22 or MASH in parts, but with a deep and involving love story at the core.”

For non-fiction reads, his recommendations include James Hornfischer’s “The Last Stand of the Tin Can Soldiers,” the true story of the small U.S. destroyer task forces that held off a much stronger Japanese fleet at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and Evan Connell’s “Son of the Morning Star.” The latter is considered to be the definitive work on General George Custer and according to Sorenson, readers won’t think much of Custer as a human being or a leader after finishing this book, but they will understand what happened at Little Big Horn and why.

Librarian Pam Hunter knows that teens are eagerly awaiting book three in Christopher Paolini’s “Inheritance” series and book four in Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” series. But, in the meantime, she suggests they try “The Alison Rules” by Catherine Clark, a female-oriented story of a girl who makes rules for her life – rules that are supposed to make her life more predictable and happier – but, as it turns out, these rules just can’t seem to protect her from the realities of life.

Also for girls, is “A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life” by Dana Reinhardt and “Wildwood Dancing” by Juliet Marillier, a fantasy tale about five sisters who stumble onto a portal leading to the Other Kingdom.

For the guys, Hunter recommends “Rash” by Pete Hautman, a futuristic tale about a16-year-old boy, Bo, who has been sent to prison for his antisocial behavior and anger management issues. Bo gets a chance to reduce his sentence if he will play football for the prison’s team. And “Amaryllis” by Craig Crist-Evans, the story of brothers bonded by their love of surfing and their fear of their abusive father. One opts to escape the abuse by fighting in the Vietnam War, while the other remains at home and receives his letters from the front.

As for the young set, Carol Fick, children’s librarian at Woodinville Library, has several suggestions. She says, “Perhaps it’s because my garden soil is calling me to come and play or perhaps it’s all those large soil-moving and digging machines that add visual interest to my daily commute, but more than likely, it’s the excellent new children’s adventure ‘Tunnels’ by Roderick Gordon, that I’m currently reading that has me thinking about other children’s books that take place underground.”

Fick likes Faith McNulty’s “How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World,” for all those kids who’ve dreamed of digging their way to China.

She also recommends “Mole Music” by David McPhail, the tale of a mole, who plays beautiful violin music in his underground world, unaware that he is making the world above ground a better place, and “Hidden Worlds: Amazing Tunnel Stories” by Debora Pearson, a collection of short, comic-book-like tunnel tales that include true stories from ancient Rome and Egypt, as well as some that deal with World War II escape tunnels and the Paris underground.

For older readers, there’s “Perilous Gard” by Elizabeth Marie Pope, a historical mystery that revolves around a girl who is imprisoned by Queen Mary in a remote castle, and “Tunnel of Hugsy Goode” by Eleanor Estes, a humorous tale that follows the exploits of a pair of mischievous boys who succeed in finding a tunnel under the alley near their homes. And then she doesn’t want kids to forget about “Gregor the Overlander” by Suzanne Collins, the first book in a series of adventures starring eleven-year-old Gregor, who, in an attempt to find his younger sister, plummets into a laundry chute that carries him into an underground fantasy world.

These are only a handful of the thousands of other titles out there that deserve mention.

There are also the proverbial “classics,” that I would like to put in a plug for, too. Though some of you might groan in response, conjuring up the death by boredom days of your freshman high school English classes, I suggest giving these tomes another read. They just might surprise you the second time around.

So, the next time you head for the “what’s new” shelf at your local library or bookstore, stop and consider all the good “oldies” out there and add one of them in to spice up the mix.