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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. Publisher: Steeple Hill Café|
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