I went to David A. Robertson’s event last month and he mentioned his new book so I was really excited to read it right away thanks to NetGalley. 52 Ways to Reconcile: How to Walk with Indigenous Peoples on the Path to Healing is a great book with 52 actions we can take. One per week. And as I was reading I was already doing week two’s action which is to start an Indigenous book club. I was reading river woman by katherena vermette and I’m looking forward to reading more Indigenous books including All the Little Monsters by David A. Robertson. I learned new things from this book as well like Salmon n’ Bannock the Indigenous restaurant here in Vancouver and the Indigenous movie Smoke Signals. I’m glad I can return to this book. This is an essential read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. This is a wonderful resource for people looking to educate themselves and do "more" towards reconciliation. David Robertson provides simple, yet powerful ways that everyone can be involved in this process. I have gotten some great book, movie and podcast recommendations from this book and can't wait to buy this book and share it with everyone I know.

David Robertson offers readers a way to indigenize their year, in this concise, thoughtfully crafted guide. Each week brings a different topic, and suggestion for action or consideration. Robertson goes out of his way to give readers all of this and more, rather than one or the other. I enjoyed the book because it feels like a conversation about how to indigenize your thinking, by centering indigeneity as a habit rather than lone subject you might engage with intermittently.

The subjects vary across pop culture, history, land acknowledgements, indigenous tourism, decolonizing the way we look at the world around us, learning the meaning behind ceremonies, and more. Robertson doesn’t do all the work for settlers reading the book, but offers a generous starting point for readers with book lists, author recommendations, and business suggestions. He even offers music and movie suggestions. There is something for every interest and hobby that makes reconciliation a personal imperative turned habit.

Woven throughout the book are anecdotes about his experiences as a Cree Canadian living in Winnipeg, and of his advocacy work in schools throughout the country. It’s a gift when you get an invitation to indigenize as an act of reconciliation, from such a funny, warm-hearted, and thoughtful writer as Robertson. The conversational style of the book makes it feel as though you are listening to Robertson on a podcast or participating in a panel, rather than reading. It makes the book very approachable for those who either don’t read much, or find it challenging. Robertson offers an education, as well as a glimpse of himself in its pages and it is among the best parts of it.

Immediately I see so many potential ways that this book could be read in a group that I hope are taken up: reading with a department at a workplace (or as a workplace depending on the size of it); journeying through it on your own and talking about it with friends, or reading with a few friends; teachers using this in a Canadian history classroom throughout the year as part of their curriculum; DEI leaders taking this journey up with direct report hierarchies, and even public libraries using it in a “one book one community” context where it generates an in-depth indigenization and decolonization effort that stretches through an entire year. Given Robertson's advocacy in schools, I wonder if there would be a companion to this workbook adapted for educators. All of these use cases aside, it is also just a great book simply because it’s a great book! I also realize that after writing not just this book, but another personal one to be released in January, it can be demanding to keep asking an author "what's next?!" so I appreciate that this may be the adaptation that teachers and educators across the country work with, which is great too!

David Robertson’s 52 Ways to Reconcile is the book that you, your organization, friend group, classroom, community, faith group, and any other gathering need this year. Reconciliation need not be a series of symbolic actions taken at dedicated times of the year but a way of being, and Robertson offers a comprehensive view of what that might look like.