![illustration blog post Festive illustration of people with books with the text "Holiday Recommendations"](https://www.vancouverfoundation.ca/wp-content/uploads/feature_image/illustration blog post.png)
What to Read, Watch and Play This Holiday Season
19 November 2021
Whether you’ve got a full holiday break or a couple of quiet hours to yourself during the seasonal rush, find inspiration or insight from these powerful books, games, and films:
![Braiding Sweetgrass Hardcover Book Cover](https://www.vancouverfoundation.ca/sites/default/files/styles/adaptive/public/Braiding Sweetgrass Hardcover Book Cover high-res.jpg?itok=hG5c95sr)
Braiding Sweetgrass
By Robin Wall Kimmerer (Milkweed Publishing, 2013)
In 2013, Kimmerer — a trained botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation — brought her story of reciprocity and giving to the world, interweaving reflections from her life as an Indigenous scientist and woman. In a new, beautifully illustrated, reissued, hardcover edition, her argument for awakening our ecological consciousness is more powerful than ever.
![Crip Camp poster](https://www.vancouverfoundation.ca/sites/default/files/styles/adaptive/public/cripcamp1-mediumSquareAt3X.jpg?itok=A3AXHmLL)
![Crip Camp poster](https://www.vancouverfoundation.ca/sites/default/files/styles/adaptive/public/cripcamp1-mediumSquareAt3X.jpg?itok=A3AXHmLL)
Crip Camp
On Netflix
The award-winning 2020 film documentary (executive producers Michelle and Barack Obama) celebrates the origins of the disability revolution, tracing the movement from its humble origins at a Woodstock-era summer camp for disabled teens to the captivating, chaotic fight for change in Washington, DC.
![](https://www.vancouverfoundation.ca/sites/default/files/styles/adaptive/public/The Marrow Thieves.jpg?itok=iDeukL-z)
The Marrow Thieves
By Cherie Dimaline (Cormorant Books, Inc., 2017)
Though Métis writer Dimaline’s latest novel is technically young-adult fare, the dystopian fantasy story offers a timely, captivating read for adult fiction fans, too. The Marrow Thieves tackles heavy subject matter — colonialism, residential schools, global warming — to weave a cautionary tale that readers of all ages ought to experience.
![](https://www.vancouverfoundation.ca/sites/default/files/styles/adaptive/public/Spirit Island box.png?itok=q62eflLf)
Spirit Island
At your local game store (Greater Than Games, 2017)
While many other board games put the player in the role of the colonizer, game designer Eric Reuss offers a clever twist: In his cooperative strategy game, players take on the role of a spirit to drive Invaders off of their island.
Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance
By Edgar Villanueva (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2018)
A fascinating guide to unpacking and grieving our relationship with wealth, giving, and charity. In its second edition, the book digs deeper into the colonial and racist dynamics in the one-trillion dollar philanthropic industry — and how altruism can have a dark side.
There’s Something in the Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous and Black Communities
Book by Ingrid Waldron (Fernwood Publishing, 2018), Documentary on Netflix
Netflix documentary directed by Elliot Page and Ian Daniel For a raw, revealing look at the true impact of environmental racism in Nova Scotia’s Indigenous and Black communities, pick up Waldron’s eye-opening cry for action — or turn on the Netflix documentary adaptation of the same title.