I reread On Chesil Beach last weekend and it’s still one of the saddest and most beautiful books I know. Ian McEwan’s work has great soul; such a gift to our world.

Other books I’ve happily revisited in the last two months include:

Looking for Alibrandi (Melina Marchetta)

I was given a pretty presentation copy of this classic at the National Book Bloggers Forum in May run by Penguin Random House. Reacquainting myself with Josephine Alibrandi, the clever teenage narrator who’s so vexed by her family, is helping me discern the tone and voice of a story I’ve started to write.

The Shipping News (E. Annie Proulx)

How could I go trekking in Newfoundland and not reread this classic set in — what I now know is —  a truly awesome and beautiful place? Here’s a great quote from the novel: “Where are the reporters of yesteryear?” he muttered, “the nail-biting, acerbic, alcoholic nighthawk bastards who truly knew how to write?”

The Burial (Courtney Collins) and Burial Rites (Hannah Kent)

The new story I’m writing demands atmosphere and these two masterly novels have it in spades. BTW: Courtney Collins’ novel is going gangbusters on the US Indie Bestseller List in the US as #15 (the book was released in the US on May 29 as The Untold).

Dear Writer Revisited (Carmel Bird)

Re-released recently by Spineless Wonders, this indispensable, wise and updated writing guide from one of Australia’s finest writers is definitely worth reading again.

Mateship with Birds (Carrie Tiffany), Questions of Travel (Michelle deKretser) and The Light Between Oceans (M. L. Stedman)

Dipping into these three amazing Australian books from last year, I’ve been trying to understand structure and narrative tension and a host of other elements that great novels get right.

How to Write a Novel in a Year (Louise Doughty)

This is a trusty handbook and certainly worth re-reading when you’re embarking on a large story or potentially novelistic project. A year goes fast! The book does its best to keep would-be novelists on track.

Carried Away: A Personal Collection of Stories (Alice Munro)

This collection contains so many stories that deserve and demand re-reading. My current choices include: “Royal Beatings”, “The Turkey Season”, “Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage” — each is disturbing in its own way.

How a Moth Becomes a Boat (Josephine Rowe)

This little book packs a big punch. Several of these stories worked their way into my thoughts and niggled me to revisit them. “Snow” is one — and it’s only a one liner: “She has forgotten everything but snow.”

First timers still to come

My first-time reads of the last few months include: Stoner (John Williams), Young Skins (Colin Barrett), Let’s Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship (Gail Caldwell), The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland (Jim DeFede), The Cost of Living: Early and Uncollected Stories (Mavis Gallant) and The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis. I really hope to make some time soon to share my impressions of them …