Best Selling Books by Don Gillmor

An Oprah Daily Best Book of 2023 • One of the Globe and Mail''s Most Anticipated Titles of 2023 • Listed in CBC Books Fiction to Read in Fall 2023 • A 49th Shelf Fall Book To Put On Your List During the hottest summer on record, Bea''s dangerous new hobby puts everyone''s sense of security to the test. Forty-nine and sweating through the hottest summer on record, Beatrice Billings is rudderless: her marriage is stale, her son communicates solely through cryptic text messages, her mother has dementia, and she conducts endless arguments with her older sister in her head. Toronto feels like an inadequately air-conditioned museum of its former self, and the same could be said of her life. She dreams of the past, her days as a newlywed, a new mom, a new homeowner gutting the kitchen—now the only novel experience that looms is the threat of divorce. Everything changes when she googles "escape" and discovers the world of amateur lock-picking. Breaking into houses is thrilling: she’s subtle and discreet, never greedy, but as her curiosity about other people’s lives becomes a dangerous compulsion and the entire city feels a few degrees from boiling over, she realizes she must turn her guilty analysis on herself. A searingly insightful rendering of midlife among the anxieties of the early twenty-first century, Breaking and Entering is an exacting look at the fragility of all the things we take on faith.

Long Change examines the high-stakes world of oil through the life and loves of one man. Fleeing his violent, Pentecostal father, as well as a crime of his own, fifteen-year-old Ritt Devlin leaves Texas in the early 1950s, heads north, and soon finds work on an oil rig on the outskirts of Medicine Hat. By his early twenties, he''s the head of his own oil company. Spanning almost seventy years, Long Change examines the high-stakes world of oil through the life and loves of one man, following the geology and politics of the industry from Texas to the Canadian oil patch, to Africa, Asia, and the Arctic, from idealism and avarice to violence and delusion. Already one of Canada''s most accomplished journalists, author Don Gillmor brings us an intimate, unforgettable story of industry and humanity.

The Governor General''s Literary award-winning exploration of suicide in which one of Canada''s most gifted writers attempts to understand why his brother took his own life. Which leads him to another powerful question: Why are boomers killing themselves at a far greater rate than the Silent Generation before them or the generations that have followed? In the spring of 2006, Don Gillmor travelled to Whitehorse to reconstruct the last days of his brother, David, a talented musician whose truck and cowboy hat had been found at the edge of the Yukon River. David''s family, his wife and his friends had different theories about his disappearance. Some thought he had run away; some thought he''d met with foul play; but most believed that David, who at forty-eight was about to give up the night life for a day job, had intentionally walked into the water. Just as Don was about to paddle the river looking for traces, David''s body was recovered. And Don''s canoe trip turned into an act of remembrance and mourning. Though David could now be laid to rest, there was no rest for his survivors. In this tender, probing, surprising work, Don Gillmor helps those left behind understand why people kill themselves and how to live with the aftermath. And he asks why, for the first time, it''s not the teenaged or the elderly who have the highest suicide rate, but the middle aged. Especially men.

Herman Oof is a giant. Sarah is a girl. Herman needs 140 hamburgers and 200 glasses of milk for a snack. Sarah does not. Herman takes to swallowing up entire cities and continents and drinking up lakes and oceans. Sarah is not amused. Herman has eaten her dog. When the island of Japan is all that''s left of the world, Herman confesses that he might burst if he eats another bite. "You''d burst?" Sarah asks "Absolutely." Herman replies. An idea is born. Sarah realizes that it just might be possible to restore the world with a loud WHOOSH and only a few teeth marks as proof of what might have been. Pierre Pratt''s inventive illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to this entertaining warning about the dangers of global over-consumption.

In middle age, debt has become the most significant relationship in Harry Salter''s life. He was born to wealthy parents in leafy and privileged Rosedale, at a time when the city was still defined by its WASP elite. But nothing in life has turned out the way Harry was led to expect. He''s unsure of his place in society, his marriage is crumbling, his son is bordering on estranged, and on top of it all his father is dying. As he sits at his father''s bedside, Harry inevitably daydreams about his inheritance. A couple of his father''s millions would rescue him from his ballooning debt--maybe even save his marriage. But when the will is read, all that''s left for Harry is $4200. Dale Salter''s money is gone. Out of desperation and disbelief, Harry starts to dig into what happened to the money. As he follows a trail strewn with family secrets and unsavory suspicions, he discovers not only that old money has lost its grip and new money taken on an ugly hue, but that his whole existence been cast into shadow by the weight of his expectations.

Ivy does not like vegetables, but when she tries to hide her them in her pants pocket instead of eating them, disaster results.

An awesome adventure about a boy who makes time stop -- or so he thinks. Ten-year-old Tristan Burberry has endured many hours of unpleasantness lately. Time spent pinned under the disapproving gaze of his new teacher, time spent trudging through the mall after his older sister, and time spent sitting with the school bully on the bus. Tristan hates time. So he makes it stop. Or so he thinks... When the world comes to a confused standstill, Tristan thinks it''s his fault. In actual fact, time has stopped because the Time Keeper, who has been making time for centuries, has quit, fed up with people''s lack of appreciation. Then, unfortunately, the Time Keeper gets kidnapped by the nefarious Time Bandits. Tristan, along with his sister Bella, sets out on a long and complicated journey to find him, hoping to get time back. In the tradition of Roald Dahl, The Time Time Stopped is a funny and far-fetched adventure. With wonderful illustrations by Ashley Spires throughout, readers will love this whimsical look at one of the central preoccupations of our lives: time.

At the age of eighty, Don Gillmor''s grandmother let slip the defining secret of her life: her twin sister Jean was not her twin, but her aunt, and her family had emigrated from Scotland to Winnipeg to escape the stigma of her illegitimacy. That revelation set Gillmor off on what seemed at first like the most personal of quests: to track down his ancestors. The Desire of Every Living Thing is also the story of the New World, the story of Winnipeg, the story of this country. Both an evocative family memoir and a brilliant feat of historical imagination, the book''s most moving theme is how the discarded past haunts and shapes our lives without us even noticing.

The top non-fiction bestseller of fall 2000 was the authoritative and beautiful Canada: A People’s History, Volume One. For fall 2001, M&S is proud to present the equally stunning and comprehensive second volume of this landmark work. This fall, on consecutive Sunday evenings starting on September 30, the CBC will broadcast eight new episodes from its spectacular – and spectacularly successful – series Canada: A People’s History. Volume Two opens with the rebellion over property and language rights for the French-speaking Métis in Manitoba, led by the charismatic and troubled Louis Riel – a key event in our history and one that haunts us to this day. It closes with the less bloody but no less traumatic confrontation between the Mohawk and the army at Oka, Quebec, in 1990. Between these two harrowing events lie more than a hundred years of astonishing change and development in Canada. In those years Canadians have fought in two world wars, struggled through long, savage Depression years, adjusted to the post-war world, and peaceably accommodated themselves to wave after wave of immigrants arriving from around the globe. The political changes have been no less striking, with the eruption of nationalism in Quebec, women’s long fight for equal rights, and the creation of Canadians’ most cherished social service: universal health care. Even more than was possible in Volume One, this well-researched book tells the major events of the twentieth century as a story of people: the famous and occasionally flamboyant politicians and public figures are here, but the book’s strength lies in the stories of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. The tremendous popularity and the impeccable historical accuracy of both the first year of the television series and the first volume of the book, surprised and delighted historians and reviewers alike. The second year of the series and the second volume of the book are both now poised to rocket to even greater success in 2001.

How can we know where we’re going if we don’t know where we are coming from? This question applies as much to nations as it does to travellers, and it rings especially loudly in the ears of Canadians. Canada: A People’s History doesn’t tell us where we are going, but it shows us where we have come from This richly illustrated book, the first of two volumes, tells the epic story of Canada from its earliest days to the arrival of the industrial age in the 1870s. Here is the story of the people who created this vast nation. The courageous explorers who tracked the vast wilderness; the adventurous settlers, many of them exiles from their homelands; the native peoples, crucial allies in the Europeans’ wars for possession of this land; the visionary politicians, and the shortsighted ones; but most of all the ordinary people who rose to the extraordinary challenge of building Canada. These people are all given voice here, their stories blending with accounts of the major events of the day. This is the story of Canada for the new millennium, one that draws on solid scholarship and presents the human drama and excitement of days gone by, one that makes past times memorable.

The top non-fiction bestseller of fall 2000 was the authoritative and beautiful Canada: A People’s History, Volume One. For fall 2001, M&S is proud to present the equally stunning and comprehensive second volume of this landmark work. This fall, on consecutive Sunday evenings starting on September 30, the CBC will broadcast eight new episodes from its spectacular – and spectacularly successful – series Canada: A People’s History. Volume Two opens with the rebellion over property and language rights for the French-speaking Métis in Manitoba, led by the charismatic and troubled Louis Riel – a key event in our history and one that haunts us to this day. It closes with the less bloody but no less traumatic confrontation between the Mohawk and the army at Oka, Quebec, in 1990. Between these two harrowing events lie more than a hundred years of astonishing change and development in Canada. In those years Canadians have fought in two world wars, struggled through long, savage Depression years, adjusted to the post-war world, and peaceably accommodated themselves to wave after wave of immigrants arriving from around the globe. The political changes have been no less striking, with the eruption of nationalism in Quebec, women’s long fight for equal rights, and the creation of Canadians’ most cherished social service: universal health care. Even more than was possible in Volume One, this well-researched book tells the major events of the twentieth century as a story of people: the famous and occasionally flamboyant politicians and public figures are here, but the book’s strength lies in the stories of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. The tremendous popularity and the impeccable historical accuracy of both the first year of the television series and the first volume of the book, surprised and delighted historians and reviewers alike. The second year of the series and the second volume of the book are both now poised to rocket to even greater success in 2001.

When Frederic Pipkin is born, his parents are sure he has musical talent, but it isn''t until after his unsuccessful lessons on various instruments that he finds his true calling.

Anton''s Christmas list was 16 pages long. On Christmas morning, there was one thing under the tree. It was an orange. Anton was not pleased. He and his lawyer decided to sue Santa Claus. Everyone came. It was the trial of the century.

"Austin''s life was perfect until Amy moved in next door. It seems to be ''yuck'' at first sight, but when Austin is invited to her party, he decides Amy deserves nothing less than the moon" Cf. Our choice, 2001.

There''s a sea monster under Sophie''s bed. He''s small and blue, and is also a terrible singer. Worst of all, it turns out that he''s afraid to come out! Sophie decides to coax the shy monster out into the world, and when they share many adventures together, they both forget to be afraid. Michael Martchenko''s bright, colourful and energetic artwork is the perfect complement to award-winning author Don Gillmor''stale. This wonderfully crafted and whimsical story touches on real childhood issues, and features a spunky heroine sure to become a favourite friend for young readers.

From the author of Canada: A People’s History comes an epic story about the invention of our nation. In 1759 in Quebec, the battle for a continent took place between British forces commanded by a desperate, suicidal general and French forces commanded by a Marquis who was desperate to leave Quebec. The battle lasted less than thirty minutes. The continent was won, but the prize was still largely an abstraction. Two million square miles of the West were unmapped and unexplored. David Thompson, a Welshman who came to the New World at the age of fifteen, became its greatest cartographer. He walked or paddled 80,000 miles and mapped 1.9 million square miles, cataloguing flora and fauna as well as the language and customs of Native peoples. But although he’d been described as the greatest land geographer who ever lived, he died impoverished and virtually unknown. Following the lives of Thompson’s illegitimate son and his descendants, Kanata takes readers on a fictionalized, multigenerational journey through millennia and across a continent to examine the stories, myths, and legends of those who formed the country and were formed by it.

When Harold "Carload" Ritchie died in 1933, Time magazine''s obituary noted that "he had good claim to the proud title of ''World''s Greatest Salesman.''" He was one of the richest men in Canada, and owned the largest sales network in the world. Yet little is known about him. He wasn''t part of the Canadian establishment, though the companies he came to own were more profitable than most of the country''s banks. He was born on Manitoulin Island, and in many ways, remaining on an island of his own making. Through Harold''s enigmatic life, we glimpse both the country in the first decades of the twentieth century, and the entertaining birth of the pharmaceutical industry.

Over the past 30 years, Diamond and Schmitt Architects, one of the world''s leading architecture firms, has produced a portfolio that reflects their core belief in the importance of content and context in architecture. Buildings should live in their environments, not be set apart. Since its formation in 1975, Diamond and Schmitt Architects has also been at the vanguard of socially responsible architecture and urban planning, and Jack Diamond and Donald Schmitt have long been vocal advocates for environmental sustainability. Today the firm is at the center of a critical debate: How do we make cities livable in the twenty-first century? An increasing number of trophy buildings-structures that consume money, steel, and glass, and require huge energy expenditures-are being erected as advertisements for cities. Suburban sprawl is eroding irreplaceable green space and contributing to pollution and environmental degradation. The need for socially and environmentally responsible architecture has never been greater. Part manifesto, part architectural monograph, this book addresses today''s most important architectural issues at a critical point in the future of the urban form. It features the most important projects in Diamond & Schmitt''s oeuvre, interspersed with 11 essays, including one by Witold Rybczynski.