Alternative books originally recommended by governor (5)
I believe the answer is:
other
'alternative' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'books originally recommended by governor' is the wordplay.
'books' becomes 'ot' (Old Testament).
'originally' suggests taking the first letters.
'by' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'governor' becomes 'he' (I've seen this in other clues).
The first letter of 'recommended' is 'r'.
'r' after 'he' is 'her'.
'ot'+'her'='OTHER'
(Other definitions for other that I've seen before include "Distinct" , "Very unusual" , "Different, not the same one or this one" , "Not the one mentioned" , "Throe (anag)" .)