Customer Reviews

Everything's Coming Up Josey (Josey, Book 1)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(8)
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For those of you who are hesitant to follow Susan May Warren into a different genre of Christian fiction, have no fear on that point. You will find everything between the covers of this novel that you've always expected from her and more.
"Everything's Coming Up Josey" is chicklit and one of the first of its kind that I have ever read. I was drawn in right away by the witty and clever first-person dialogue that Josey has with others and with herself. I found Josey to be a character that was real and accessible, didn't always speak in complete sentences, often did or said the "wrong thing", and was able to show us that she had a past, but how she was brought to Jesus and has become a different person because of it. Josey's trials and hurdles that she endures as a one-year missionary to Russia and even before that (since we begin this chapter in her story at the wedding of Josey's ex-boyfriend to her younger sister!) are so very close to something that most women have gone through in one form or another that you can't help but empathize and feel a real kinship with her. After it all, Josey feels like a friend that you have in real life because she lets us see who she really is, even when she doesn't quite fully understand who that is all the time, as most of us don't. The storyline moves along quickly but never makes you feel as if you are outside of what's going on with her. Most of her experiences, either in her present time or as memories, are related to us sprinkled with such humor and feeling that you feel her embarassment, indignation, amusement, mortification or deep emotion when each is called for.
On the whole, "Everything's Coming Up Josey" was an engaging, fun read that I would recommend to anyone, whether you are acquainted with this author's other works or not.

You've already read enough about the book to get the gist, so here's a little additional piece: Warren's sense of humor, her lighthearted approach to characterization, will haul you in and have you cheering Josey Berglund on. As Josey fairly trips over her own inner discoveries, you might find yourself tripping with her.

There's depth and breadth here, delivered without preaching, from a real world place, that's refreshing and invigorating.

For a light snack, with just a little meat included, grab yourself a copy of Everything's Coming Up Josey and get ready to meet a new friend.

Josey flees to Russia after her boyfriend jilts her and marries her sister. She goes as a missionary to teach them about God, but learns more about herself and her own relationship with God. Being in the Lord's work is nothing like she imagined in all her preperations. From her first encounter at the Moscow airport to the surprise at the bistro, Josey finds Russia much more than she expected. Susan takes the reader on a delightful ride around Moscow as seen through Josey's eyes. The secondary characters give added spice and depth as Josey copes with her friendships. As Josey grows and learns to lean on God, she finds the desires of heart where she least expects them. This is a fun read with great spiritual insight. Don't miss it.

Wow! This story was unbelievably cool! Move over Kristin Billerbeck! You need to share the spotlight with Susan May Warren. I had no idea until I read Everything's Coming Up Josey that there was an author out there who wrote chick lit as good as you do! I SO loved this story. It was SO unique and wonderful. A real joy to read! I smiled and laughed so much I think people began to wonder about me. I kept wanting to read sections to my husband--who, being a man, of course--didn't get it. This is one novel I could easily read twice. The love story was rich, the spiritual aspects were truly insightful and inspiring, and the humor was fantastic! I found myself turning the pages and wanting to read it every chance I got. I had a hard time putting this one down! Highly recommended. Now I have to go pull out the other books I have that Susan May Warren wrote. I had no idea she could wow me so much. And to make a missionary story into chick lit with such pizzaz that you want a sequel? Who'd a thunk it?

Okay, so maybe Josey didn't surrender to the call to the mission field under the most convincing of circumstances. Sure, her secret crush/best friend just announced his engagement. At her sister's wedding reception--while her sister was dancing with her groom who just happened to be Josey's ex-boyfriend. And, yes, she was at a dead-end job where the most she could hope for was to become her great-aunt one day. But when the visiting missionary said, "We need teachers," he was looking right at her.

So, yes, the circumstances may have looked like she was trying to escape, and maybe, just a little bit, she was. But, as Christians know, "All things work together for good for those who love God," and Josey is no exception. Josey does have a calling, and she does fulfill it. She even gets the guy, but you'll have to read it to find out which one.

As usual, Susan May Warren doesn't disappoint with her latest release, Everything's Coming Up Josey, a laugh-out-loud funny expose of a young, single missionary to Russia. With an unusual, mixed format writing style, Susan May Warren endears readers to this less-than-perfect girl who surrenders to God's plan. Look out world.

Armchair Interviews says: A refreshing look at missions, faith, calling...and getting the guy.

Everything's Coming Up Josey is Susan May Warren's first (and most welcome) venture into the field of Christian chick-lit. All I have to say is, watch out Kristin Billerbeck!

Josey needs a change. A big change. Her sister (check that - her younger sister) just married her former fiancé, and ever-present, ever-dependable best friend Chase has announced his engagement to the Queen of the Amazons. Strangely enough, the thought of losing Chase bothers Josey more than her sister's marriage - a circumstance she isn't willing to analyze too deeply at the moment. After all, Chase was supposed to be her last resort, right? Always available to save her from the doom of spinsterhood. All this, plus her less than thrilling job at the local newspaper leaves Josey ripe to make some serious changes in her life. Longing to "leave a trail of wow" behind her wherever she goes, she decides to take the plunge and commit to a year long stay as a missionary in Russia.

Susan May Warren unveils the mystery behind being a first year missionary with a deft comic touch. The character of Josey is a fresh, funny, candid voice in the world of chick-lit. Josey left for Russia with a two-fold purpose - the desire to achieve "eternal significance" and the equally burning desire to forget her uncomfortably changing feelings for her close friend Chase. Warren's writing shines as she deftly builds towards Josey's discovery that her stint as a missionary isn't so much about what she's capable of, but about what God can do when she surrenders her will to His leading.

I have to end this review by saying I love Susan May Warren books. Suspense, romance - the genre doesn't matter, reading her stories simply make me smile. With Everything Coming Up Josey, Warren not only makes a huge splash with her chick-lit debut - she delivers an incredibly entertaining tale of a modern woman attempting to balance her faith, family, and dreams, who discovers that the very best place to be, the only place to work it all out, is the center of God's will.

A Josey sequel will release in 2007...but thankfully one doesn't have to wait long for SMW's next release -- Sands of Time, book #2 in the Mission: Russia series, hits shelves in October.

Susan May Warren strikes gold again in this fictious retelling of part of her time spent in Russia.
It is an excellent read, with point of view and plot keeping the reader engrossed in the book from beginning to end.
Readers can't go wrong picking up this book.

Are you looking for purpose? Significance? Josey is. I have been thinking a lot about purpose and priorities over the past couple of years and this book just hits the topic spot on. I loved traveling a winding road with Josey as she seeks to find answers to her and my/our basic life questions - "Who am I ? And why am I here?" In Josey, Warren weaves us through the process that Josey takes as she discovers her own answers to these life questions. Josey leaves behind family and friends to follow her calling as a missionary teaching English to adult Russians in Moscow. Through heartbreaking rejection, baffling confusion, and unexpected betrayal Josey learns to take an honest assessment of herself and becomes enlightened with the truth that God not only loves her deeply but is working through her to change her from within to fulfill his purposes for her good and His glory - with many surprises along the way. I thoroughly enjoyed traveling with Josey as she lives the "richness of life with a Savior watching her back and setting her course." What a Savior!
Starting with the Deep Haven Series I quickly became a Susan May Warren fan. Her writing style is amazingly versatile - from In Sheep's Clothing with its serious diabolical plot mixed with romance to the wittingly written word pictures in Josey that made me laugh out loud. I highly recommend this author and all of her books. Keep writing Susan.

I have yet to read anything by Susan May Warren that I have not loved and this is no exception. I felt like I was discovering the ups and downs of adapting to a different culture right along with Josey. This was an extremely well thought out story that keeps you hooked until the end. Great "Lost" references too!

Everything's Coming Up Josey
By Susan May Warren
Review by Roseanna M. White
Price: $13.95



Things couldn't get much worse. The man she brought home to Minnesota dumped her and is marrying her little sister. The hometown boy she has not had a crush on all of her life-no, really, he's just her best friend!-is engaged to a gorgeous could-be-Amazon. Josie's feeling out of place and without any real goal in life, and then there he is. A missionary who looks out over her church body and says, "We need you." That sealed it. She's going to Russia.

Okay, so Josie figures out pretty fast that being a missionary isn't exactly a glamorous job, and when she arrives in Russia she learns that it's even less than that. She thought she'd be teaching English to children. Turns out it's to adults. She thought it would be a chance to meet a nice guy. Shows what she knows. She thought it would be an opportunity to find herself and strengthen her faith. . . but she starts to wonder if maybe those aren't the best reasons to travel halfway around the world. Her roommate's a bagel-stealing woman of dubious principles, her Russian neighbor's determined to set her up with a mysterious grandson, and she can barely speak enough of the language to figure out what exactly she's buying in the local food markets. But surely God can work it all to good, right? Right?

Everything's Coming Up Josie is a light, fun read that deals with serious issues with humor. Using her own experiences as a missionary to Russia as a base, Warren tells a tale that kept me laughing and thinking for hours. We go with Josie through various romantic interests, pulled deep into the thought process of this very lovable character since it's written in first person. Josie is very real, very flawed, and very much a young woman I'd love to be friends with. She has insecurities that haunt her every step of the way, a few prejudices that she has to work through, and a heart big enough to overcome the little problems that sneak up from having more exuberance than experience in the missionary field.

The best part of the book, in my opinion, is that you genuinely don't know who you're rooting for when it comes to those love interests. There's the hometown boy, Chase, that has history in his favor, but he lacks the faith. Not to mention not being on the same continent at the moment. Then there's Caleb, who has all the markings of a perfect hero-along with dreadlocks and a distinct preference for grunge. Then there's her teaching partner, toss in that mysterious grandson. . . Josie's year in Russia is certainly a page turner, and we're treated to her thoughts and fears and dreams every step of the way.

In short, the only thing I didn't like about this book was that I had to put it down after I turned the last page. It falls into the category of chick lit, written not only in first person but also in the present tense, which might throw some more traditional readers off. I, however, found the voice so grabbing that I soon forgot that I didn't read this kind of book every day. It was a thoroughly entertaining read that was also thought-provoking and touching. Pick it up, and you won't want to put it down again.