Bapsy Jain

Lucky Everyday is a philosophical novel about the crooked path toward spiritual enlightenment.

The novel begins with Lucky volunteering to teach yoga at a men's prison.

In a swift move backward in time, the reader learns about Lucky's previous relationship with a pseudo-boyfriend, Amay, whom she wishes she had married and her disastrous marriage to Viki, the glamorous businessman who wanted a more traditional wife that Lucky ever would be.

In a series of seemingly random yet intricately interwoven events, Lucky proceeds to learn the spiritual teachings her friend, Shanti, had embodied: those of right thoughts, relinquishing one's position, one's possessions, and one's perception, to become one with the universe.

An excellent modern day philosophical novel on par with the classics such as The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and The Stranger by Camus.… (más)

Book Synopsis: Lately, Lucky Boyce has been anything but lucky. Forced to flee Bombay when her wealthy and charming husband divorces her and squashes her successful entrepreneurial career, Lucky feels defeated and desperate for respite. Fortunately, old friends welcome her to New York, where her life begins to breathe promise once again. Determined, and trying to make a difference, she volunteers to teach yoga to prison inmates. But just when self-esteem and love start to surface, a series of bizarre events leave Lucky wondering if her journey through life is marred by duplicity and betrayal. Or does she simply need to overcome her fears and look within to find the strength to break free?

My review: Well, this book pretty much sucked. I thought it might be interesting because it deals a bit with spirituality and yoga. I was hoping it would be another "Breakfast with Buddha" or "[b:Eat Pray Love|19501|Eat, Pray, Love|Elizabeth Gilbert|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1269870432s/19501.jpg|3352398]" but it was really more "Oh my gosh, what else can go wrong in this chick's life?" soap opera. I hate soap operas.

At first, when things go bad the first time, you think, "man, that does suck." Then as the fifth, sixth and seventh thing go bad, I just thought, wow, is this the whole book? One bad thing happens to Lucky over and over and over again. The moral of the story gets lost in the crap that surrounds it.

****SPOILER ALERT****
The end REALLY sucks. She goes back to the prison and there's a riot and some guys try to kill her and she just starts fading away and is okay with it. WHAT?! After all that - the misleading, the lies, the betrayal, the physically pain and now just when things might get better she gets killed? Screw this book.

Supposedly, Bapsy Jain was writing it's sequel but I am soooo not even interested in picking it up especially if it's more of the author throwing as much bad stuff as possible at her character. And for no real reason either. There's not a whole lot of redemption or lessons being learned. Or if there is I lost it because I got stuck thinking, why in the world am I reading this annoying book!

As one reviewer put it:
The character is well-written and her plight sympathetic but the bizarre series of events that makes up the plot is one big pile of WTF.… (más)

Lucky Everyday tells the story of Lucky, a young woman who appears to have all the good luck life can offer her. But one day her luck begins to change and everything that she worked so hard to achieve, falls apart in her hands. While Lucky considers how easy it would be to end it all in the park, she meets an older lady named Shanti who becomes her guide and source of inspiration. With Shanti's help, Lucky begins to piece back together her life, albeit in a different form. However, just when she thinks she has found the peace and happiness she was seeking, life throws her another set of challenges. Again Lucky puts back together the pieces surrounding her. Her reward? One major challenge that could be bring the end to everything.

I really enjoyed this book. I found myself regularly wanting to read 'just one more chapter' because I wanted to know what was going to happen. Bapsy Jain, the author, does clearly have a message she wishes to get across but she has rightfully (in my opinion) not done it in a way that makes it so in your face that you put the book down. Instead, the message flows throughout the book but quietly in the background. The ending does live big question marks and I for one and looking forward to the sequel, Night Vision, which is yet to be published.… (más)