Getting the Pretty Back

Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick

By: Molly Ringwald

Narrated by: Molly Ringwald

Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

The iconic Molly Ringwald shares intimate stories and candid advice in this fun, stylish, and sexy girlfriend's guide to life.

To her millions of fans, Molly Ringwald will forever be 16. 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 shyly vulnerable Samantha, Molly is now a wife and mother, and 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.

In this book, Molly encourages every woman to become "the sexiest, funniest, smartest, best-dressed, and most confident woman that you can be" by sharing personal anecdotes and entertaining insights about the struggle to get through the murky milestones and identity issues that crop up long after prom ends. Whether she's discussing sex and beauty, personal style, travel and entertaining, motherhood, or friendship, Molly embodies the spirit of being fabulous at every age, and reminds us all that prettiness is a state of mind: it's "the part of you that knows what you really want, that takes risks."

Getting the Pretty Back is sure to charm women of all ages with its unforgettably personal, refreshingly outspoken take on life, love, and, of course, finding that perfect red lipstick....

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2010 Molly Ringwald (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

Love Molly!

Would you consider the audio edition of Getting the Pretty Back to be better than the print version?

I did like having Molly Ringwald narrate the story. It was great to hear it exactly as she meant it to be heard.

What did you like best about this story?

Many of the stories were very relatable to my life.

What does Molly Ringwald bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her tone and inflection truly meant that you heard the story from her perspective.

Half of this book was boring, the other half was good

I realize when you translate a book from text to audio that you’d like to include everything in the audiobook. Reading recipes in an audiobook just feels like wasting time so the book seems longer in the audio format. They were several Times where lists were read, Making the reader feel like their time was being wasted. No offense to Molly, but these were just bad decisions in my opinion. I love Molly, but I wouldn’t spend money on this book

Not What I was Expecting

What I Loved: Molly narrated her own book and I think this works for this book. She has a good reading voice.

What I Liked: This book covers everything from dinner parties to lipstick. I can't think of a topic that she did not cover. In that aspect, this book delivered on it's promise to give you advice on how to handle anything. I also enjoyed when she threw in antidotes about her life over the years. Those little stories were the best part of the book.

What I thought was So-So/Didn't Like: I really wanted to love this book but most of it was "eh". I am not sure that most of her advice is good for everyday people. It is probably because I am not a fashionita. I do figure that I am not the main target audience for this book. It just seemed a little out of reach for most normal people.

Why I gave it a 2: I will admit that this is one of those books that will probably get ratings from bad to good because it really is more of a personal type of book. The advice either appeals to you or not. I love Molly Ringwald and feel like this book will appeal to other people. It just didn't work for me.

Who I would recommend it too: Anyone who likes non-fiction advice books on beauty, travel, wine, and cooking.