Yesterday Book Binge turned 3! Pretty amazing, isn’t it? To celebrate we’re doing a full week of giveaways. Today we have 3 copies of Getting the Pretty Back by Molly Ringwald.

To her millions of fans Molly Ringwald will forever be sixteen. As the endearing and witty star of the beloved John Hughes classics Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink, Molly defined teenage angst, love, and heartbreak. While remembered eternally as the enviable high school princess Claire, or the shy, vulnerable Samantha, Molly Ringwald actually just celebrated her 40th birthday! Facing a completely new, angst-inducing time in her life, she is embracing being a woman, wife, mother of three, actress, and best friend with her trademark style, candor, and humor—and now offers her personal stories and practical advice in the full-color, lushly illustrated GETTING THE PRETTY BACK

Part memoir, part style-guide, Getting the Pretty Back encourages every woman to become “the sexiest, funniest, smartest, best-dressed, and most confident woman that you can be.” Whether she’s discussing sex and beauty, personal style, travel and entertaining, motherhood, or friendships, Molly embodies the spirit of being fabulous at every age:

On prettiness: “Being pretty can be about style or outer beauty, true, but on a deeper, more fundamental level, it’s about learning to take care of yourself again. …At heart, prettiness is a state of mind. It’s a way of looking at things, of looking at ourselves. It’s the part of you that knows what you really want, that takes risks.” 

On birthdays:  “Here’s a secret: I actually like my age. Or rather, I like everything that I’ve learned as those years have accumulated. Whether it has to do with friendship, family, or falling in love, whether it involves acting, fashion, or motherhood, there’s nothing I would give up. (Well, okay, maybe I’d pass on the Dorothy Hamill haircut I got in the fourth grade).”

On making friends: “Very often we get stuck saying to ourselves that we are too old. The time for making new friends has passed. We treat friendship like a new language—if you didn’t pick it up in middle school, it’s too late. Why bother? This is far from the case.  One of the advantages of being older is that you know yourself better—you know what traits really matter to you in a friend, and what you offer to a friendship. You can embrace your differences, rather than trying to fit a mold.”

On parenting: “I’m not one to say that my children are perfect, or that I am the perfect parent. There was a long week when my daughter Mathilda’s response to any question was “Liar liar pants on fire.” This was a vast improvement upon the previously and often used “Nana Nana, butt butt.” I don’t ask her why she says these things; I know she’s picked them up at school. She’s just trying them on for size, and eventually she will find the words for what she feels. I trust that. We are all works in progress. And believe me, I’m no expert when it comes to being a mother. I just like to say that my expertise lies in the fact that I am a mother and incidentally, I play one on TV . . .”

 

On looking ahead: “It’s up to us to decide who we want to be…hopefully we have enough wisdom to know that we don’t need to prove anything anymore, and enough life history to know when we need to try new things, to be the navigator of our own unforgettable journey.”

Plus Molly offers tons of unique tips and practical insights:

Fashion Faux Pas that Work • Five Perfect Friend Dates • Iconic Hairstyles in Film • Unconventional Ways to Stay Fit • How to Pack a Carry-on Bag • Parenting Advice to Ignore (Even When It’s From Your Own Mom) • and of course,

Finding the Perfect Lipstick…

A reflection of Molly’s own personality—vibrant, fun, stylish, and sexy—and gorgeously illustrated by Ruben Toledo, GETTING THE PRETTY BACK is a straight-talking, girlfriend’s guide to getting through the murky milestones and identity issues that crop up long after the prom ends.

 I started reading this book on Friday and found it to be witty and charming. Ringwald offers fashion advice, makeup tips and life lessons that will help women of all ages work on getting back to feeling pretty and alive.

We have two copies of Getting the Pretty Back to giveaway. If you’d like to be entered to win one, leave a comment telling us what you do when you want to feel pretty. Do you have a special outfit you put on? Fix your hair a certain way? Put on a particularly sexy pair of heels? Contest ends Sunday, May 2 at 11:59 p.m.

This book is available from It Books. You can buy it here.