MAD Librarian lives up to the pun of its title -- MAD characters, MAD Library location, and MAD humor. Guillebeau has created a character in MAD librarian Serenity, who not only pays tribute to all librarians, but is exactly the one you hope works at your community library. A fun easy read.

I wanted to enjoy this more than I did, but while it was an easy and quick and not altogether unenjoyable read, I wasn't won over by either the "everything is awful" opening, or the increasingly implausible events as the book progressed. Tries to be fun, just misses the mark a little.

Serenity, the MAD Librarian aka Lie-brarian, served me some Southern grit, charm, hope and tough as knuckles personality in this book.
When the library runs out of funds and Serenity, the Head Librarian, is on the verge of giving up, she stumbles upon some residual account with all the money she could need to keep the library doors open and she takes it. She thinks, why not rip off the same city that has been ripping her off for years and it's all about the books and keeping her doors open to everyone.

I was drawn to this book by the title. I love books and librarians are the most resourceful people I know and to have one that's "MAD", well, that was reason enough to pique my interest.
I loved the bookish references and how there were opposing forces for Serenity from the beginning. The sexism did piss me off, especially when the Mayor is keen on Serenity's views on his interior decor and hat instead of talking about finances, partnership and keeping the library open. I also fumed when they wouldn't give her time to air her views during the council meeting, that was just downright mean.
Serenity is all about books and it was quite nerve wrecking that she had a husband who lived by the book. Joe's decision to stick by the law was the one thing that hurt more in this and in a way, I am grateful that the author was realistic because well, at some point it was clear that Serenity could not have her cake and eat it.
The pace was even in the first seven chapters and after that it felt like a drum rolling downhill. There was a part where Serenity was talking to Joe about fighting a losing battle that I found to be as honest as she could ever get in the book,
...Now that I've been in the normal world for twenty years and should be some kind of pillar for the community, it seems all I do is smile and pretend and take crap. Even that's not enough anymore.


I'd recommend this book to anyone who's mad about books. You'd agree with the author that public libraries do need funding and I'd be lying if I said that I find myself hurting just a bit more when I visit the public library here in Kisumu, Kenya.
Given the pace, the quirkiness of the characters and the unraveling of the plot, I'd say that my rating's a 3.5 stars.
I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. It's been a mad read and is there any way I could get to name a pet Faulkner?

Fun premise that panders to librarians. A fun revenge fantasy that spins out of control and shows. The first half was enjoyable, the second half felt terribly long and unbelievable.

I didn't know what to expect from this one - after downloading the galley, I looked up other reviews to see what the buzz was on this one (I do that from time to time, out of curiosity). WOW. People do NOT seem to like this book - the rather vituperative reviews and low stars really surprised me... Don't get me wrong - there are some issues that I had with it as well. The story is rather extreme - excessive corruption and sexism, exceedingly polarizing characters, wild-eyed pessimism (and, by the end, optimism), too-good (and -bad) to-be-true characters... The plot is wildly implausible. The language is, at times, hyperbolic and the drama, overdrawn.

BUT IT IS SATIRE. And that's what satire does...

I think that reading this as a gen fic narrative, each word read as a ringingly true statement about the world as it is, is the problem. If you read it like true fiction (you know what I mean), you'd probably be disappointed or disgusted or eye-rollingly turned off. But if you read it as a satirical riff on the insanity of the modern world, a world which emphasizes flash over substance at entirely too many turns and which seems to reward sneaky, corrupt, idiots at the expense of The Good, then I think it all falls into place quite nicely. For goodness' sakes, even the characters names were obviously satirically derived - even aging hippies wouldn't honestly name their daughter Serenity Sweetblossom, would they?? And Amanda Doom?? The MAD itself?? And read the dedication - clearly Guillebeau has an axe to grind tale, and it's an important and undervalued one, which is well served by the snarky over-the-top style he adopted to tell it. Yes, I rolled my eyes a few times. Yes, I occasionally skimmed a page that felt overdone. But all in all, the premise and delivery were very well aligned, and I enjoyed reading this one. I read it in a day and a half - and I only get to read at night, before bed (or in the middle of the night when I can't sleep). That should tell you something...

I for one applaud what he is trying to accomplish with this book. The donations to the MAD Librarian Fund are a brilliant idea, and I hope that the cause is picked up by some of the very large corporate organizations he so derides. His vision for what a knowledge- and book-based town could truly accomplish is a marvelous one, and I think there's more than wisdom hidden in the MAD's structure than is immediately apparent. Here's hoping someone with the resources to actually discover that wisdom stumbles upon a kernel of it...

This novel by Michael Guillebeau was written to raise money for libraries. And, cleverly, the book itself is about a librarian taking "whatever means necessary" to keep her own small town Alabama library running. A charming premise, but the execution did not match the initial idea. The novel itself was overly full of trite Southern phrases and dialect and I found the main character to be unlikable and grumpy in spite of her nobel quest.

I read about 10% of this and then lost interest. It was just too stereotypical to hold my attention.

I'm not going to lie - I didn't care for this book.

From the very beginning it was nonstop whining and complaining about the politics of running a library and trying to get funding from the city. By Chapter 9 I was ready to throw in the towel because NOTHING had happened. Nothing was progressing. Librarian needs funding, city says no in a very sexist manner.

I felt slightly obligated to continue, plus I've been in a book funk and wanted to finish SOMETHING, but it was just so slow. The story progression was dreadful. I feel like I would have been more interested if something happened but by Chapter 13 I found myself just scrolling through hoping something would catch my eye.

This is one of those books where the promising concept got smothered by quaint gravy thick execution. Disclaimer...I don't get the southern charm, at all. The aw shucks gee wiz slow drawling folksy appeal of it is just...off putting at best. And this book is slathered in it. When it isn't being all southern, it's busy being quaint. Just a wink wink nudge nudge aren't we cute sort of thing...like naming the main character (the eponymous mad librarian) Serenity. But mad she is. Her library in Maddington (seriously) Alabama is struggling, the funds are being perpetually cut by the city, so she decided to reappropriate some finances to build the greatest library/community service center the world (or at least the south) has ever known. 7 stories of various projects including business and legal aid, shelter, childcare and so on. She just needs to get away with it and, of course, her trusty team of quirky sidekicks and her Waylon Jennings do right local cop of a spouse are there to aid and assist. See...isn't all just too adorable for words? Not to mention such a strong chicklit vibe that the author ought to consider checking his estrogen levels. Seriously though, you are charmed by the South and consider cute to be an acceptable way to describe a book, then this might be your thing. For me it was a quick mindless silly read and that's about it. Thanks Netgalley.

Billed as Breaking Bad the library edit and one would have to agree. Just think, as a book lover, how far would you go to save the library and the books that you love?
Serenity, Joy and Amanda Doom, the three library employees doing just that have attributes that mean most readers should be able to relate to one of them and find themselves internally fighting their corner, although a prequel about Joy would be much appreciated.
A surprisingly pacy read which although not full of surprises had enough to keep me guessing until quite far in about how events would turn out.

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