Book Review - The Secret Wish List

Preeti Shenoy is one of my favorite bloggers and friend in blogosphere. She also happens to be one of my favorite personalities (now a celebrity :)), someone who I admire a lot, and someone who never fails to inspire me in anything she does.

I instantly fell in love with her writing when I chanced upon her blog one day, a few years ago. I remember spending an entire Sunday afternoon browsing through her posts. I soon read her first book, 34 Bubblegums and Candies" which had just been released. Although I loved the book then (and still do), I must say that she has improved leaps and bounds in her writing since her first book was released. Her writing has gained so much confidence.

I won a copy of  her latest (fourth) book, "The Secret Wish List",  from one of the contests on her blog and the book was waiting for me when I arrived at home during my recent India trip. It took me a while to start reading it, but I finished it in a couple of days (hard to do it in one sitting with a toddler and a full-time breastfeeding infant) and even though its been a while I read it, the story and its message is still lingering on in my mind.

The Secret Wish List is a love story beautifully woven into words. And the part of the story that appealed the most to me is how the protagonist finally realized how miserable she was with her current life and did something about it. Since I was in India when I read the book, I could see many people like her around me. Most Indian women who are homemakers are very submissive to their spouses or family, and after reading the book I wished that were not the case. I wished more women voiced their opinions during conversations (I found this to be huge coz I totally lacked company in this department during my visit). I wished they spent more time pursuing their hobbies. I wished each and every one read Preeti's book, made their own wishlist and decided to fulfill it, slowly but surely. I did made a mental note of my wishlist and will work on fulfilling it for sure!

Preeti's lucid writing, her definition of the characters and the cities they live in, the places traveled - it all feels so real when you read it, that you instantly form a bond with her books and start relating your own life to it. She always transports me back to my happy memories - whether its college, a close friendship, a place I visited, and so I say that she's an amazing writer.

Another thing that Preeti's books and blog posts always remind me is to live in the moment, be sincere + work hard and be grateful for the blessings in life. Life can change any minute, and there are no warnings given. We should greet each new day given to us with a smile, give it our best, and when we go to bed, we should fill our gratitude journal with positive notes and fill our minds with content.

I cannot end this post without mentioning one more thing. Preeti is also a woman of her words. She will do what she says. And even after achieving so much success and fame, that quality of hers has not changed. She was there for me when I needed her.....and I will forever be grateful for that.

Her fifth book is very much awaited....and I wish her much more national and international success as a writer in future!