A review by toniclark
The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family by Josh Hanagarne

4.0

For a man with severe Tourette syndrome to decide on a career as a librarian seems both perverse and praiseworthy. And this was after trying every possible treatment and means of gaining control over his body. Strength-training is one thing that helped — at least for a time — but just as it did after other promising therapies, the condition returned. Still, Josh, who is 6;7” and has had Tourette’s since boyhood, manages to hold down a good job and to enjoy his life to a degree far greater than one would ever imagine. A lifelong lover of books and reading, he is also undoubtedly the world’s strongest librarian, one who can roll up a frying pan — with a Nicholas Sparks book inside as a joke. (I got this last bit not from the book, but from an interview with Josh on the “Reading Lives” podcast.) Hanagarne’s memoir is by turns heartbreaking and uplifting. He is both humorous and self-deprecating, but doesn’t spare us his darker moods and moments. Hanagarne was raised in the Church of Latter Day Saints, but as his faith in the Mormon teachings wanes, his faith in himself grows stronger. We meet many members of Josh’s family and teachers along the way, who are lovingly drawn, especially his Mom and Dad, as well as his wife and son. It’s an emotional roller-coaster of a good read, a difficult journey of self-discovery leavened by Josh’s perseverance, his humor, and inner strength.