Books for Mother's Day

Here are some great Black Inc. books to buy your mum this Mother’s Day (and reasons why she’ll love them!)

Reaching One Thousand

A Story of Love, Motherhood and Autism

By Rachel Robertson

Rachel Robertson’s memoir tells the story of raising her autistic son Ben, and the joys and challenges she faces along the way.

“This is the best kind of memoir – there is a beautiful calm clarity that drew me in, and held me until the end.” – Georgia Blain

Why will my mother love it?

Lovers of well-crafted, literary writing will adore this beautifully-written memoir. It’s a touching and uplifting story about parenting an autistic child – a fascinating and compelling read for every mother.

What We Learnt From Completing Oxfam Trailwalker

Three Black Inc. staff members (and one non-Black Inc.er) completed the Oxfam Trailwalker as a team last weekend. Oxfam Trailwalker is an endurance challenge – teams of 4 attempt to walk or run 100km in under 48 hours, raising money for charity in the process. The 100km bushland trail has checkpoints along the way where you can rest and your support crew can bring you food, warm clothing and supplies.

We walked the 100km track in 35 hours, with no sleep. None of us had done the event before and we made a lot of rookie mistakes. If you are considering doing the event in the future (and you should – it’s a great way to raise money for Oxfam and really challenge yourself) here are our tips:

Interview with Nikki McWatters

Q&A with Nikki McWatters, author of One Way or Another: The Story of a Girl Who Loved Rock Stars
 
Can you tell us a little bit about your memoir, One Way or Another?
 
One Way or Another is the culmination of twenty-five to thirty years of champagne-fuelled storytelling to friends and family. After reminiscing about my teenage years as a rock and roll groupie for the umpteenth time, my husband dared me to turn it into a book. I have always considered it rather spineless to walk away from a dare! Hence, the memoir. 

International Women’s Day 2012

In honour of International Women’s Day we asked some of our authors to tell us their favourite book written by a woman:


Anna Krien, author of Into the Woods and Quarterly Essay 45 Us and Them:

Marilynne Robinson's debut novel Housekeeping is, essentially, the opposite of housekeeping. Fog and dust seem to emanate from its pages, and the image of a train moving like an eel to its final resting place in a lake on a moonless night has never left me. A story of women who cannot conform to society's expectations, not because of any radical rebellion, but because their veins and bones and thoughts are so very different to the ladies in the magazines.

Q&A with Rachel Robertson

We interview Rachel Robertson about her first book Reaching One Thousand: A story of love, motherhood and autism.

Can you tell us a little about your memoir Reaching One Thousand?

Reaching One Thousand is a story about an unusual boy, his mother, our everyday life and how I learned to be a parent. My son, Ben, is autistic and so the book is about difference, about learning about autism, and about change. For example, at four years old Ben loved numbers and all he wanted to do was walk around the local streets reading the numbers on the letterboxes. I expected him to play with toys and other kids, to want to do all the things I saw typically developing children do. But he had his own ideas! So the story is about me confronting my own expectations, adapting and rethinking my role as a parent. Some of that was hard, some was fun and most of it interesting, and that’s the story I tell in Reaching One Thousand.