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

4.0

This book was great on a lot of levels. First, it was informative, allowing me to get a feel for what it is like to live with Tourette's. Second, it's just plain funny. Hanagarne has a way with words that just makes me grin. Third, how can I not love hearing someone talk about how much he loves books? And his stories of being a librarian in a large city are wild and entertaining. Fourth, it's thoughtful. I really appreciated being led through his thought processes about all kinds of things, especially how he approaches faith. That ties into another reason I enjoyed it: he's Mormon, I'm Mormon. Honestly, I don't usually enjoy reading books by people who have left the faith and have negative things to say about it (why would I?). Hanagarne has struggled with faith in general but is up-front about his experiences and his feelings about faith and religion. He struggles but doesn't have anything negative to say about Mormonism or faith; he is honestly searching, all while his family is still strong in the faith and is supporting him kindly and lovingly, without guilting him. And that's the last point I love about this book: he has an awesome family. They're quirky and funny and interesting but thoroughly loving and supportive in so many ways. With so much out there about dysfunction and bad parents, etc., it's always refreshing to be reminded that great families and parents still exist.
I really did love this book in many ways; just hated the 14 f-words. Really, were those all necessary?

Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/worlds-strongest-librarian-nonfiction-book-review/