Comments (29)

Vinegar Girl

The Taming of the Shrew Retold
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1 to 25 of 29 items
Aug 20, 2023spiderhunter rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
haha i love this book very funny and relatable. :) love the chapters about her work in daycare!
May 14, 2023iloveseaotters rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
I used to love Anne Tyler's books and just devoured them, but this one... I couldn't get past the first chapter.
Nov 17, 2022ReadWme2 rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I know people like these characters and they are precious to me. Brilliant but flawed like us all. It's a good, short read and entertaining. I don't understand why Kate is equated to being a shrew by this female author because she is…
Apr 20, 2022sisson_pam rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed every bit of this book, quirky characters, struggling family dynamics and the epilogue brought the story to a satisfying conclusion. Kate seems headed for a spinster life of caring for her academic father and cute entitled…
Dec 01, 2019betsymarzoni rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Great fun and wonderful characters, as you would expect from Anne Tyler. I think Shakespeare would approve!
Nov 30, 2019CPLSecondHome rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
My favorite Anne Tyler book so far--loved this! Authentic life of scientists, professors--plenty of humor and affection.
Oct 16, 2019GloriaForrest2 rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
After reading "Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant" and "Accidental Tourist", I really liked Anne Tyler's writing style. However, Vinegar Girl was a waste of time. I kept reading it through to the end, hoping it would redeem itself before…
Apr 17, 2019andreareads rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Comical but unconvincing.
Mar 29, 2019wandaymills rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Negative, Negative, Negative. I realized a lot about myself and will continue to become more positive, positive, positive.
Mar 29, 2019goldenpamela54 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
As hoped for, the quirky and severely human characters in this novel are "classic" Tyler, and I feel comforted and happy about that. Sometimes, it seemed that efforts to make the novel match or reflect the tone and storyline of 'The Taming…
Jan 30, 2019DBRL_IdaF rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A modern re-telling of "The Taming of the Shrew." I liked this version better than Shakespeare's. For one thing, we get the story from the point of view of the title character. For another, the "taming" is of a different sort.
Nov 16, 2018DCPL_Melissa rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I liked the changes Anne Tyler made to the story, especially in the characters, but I needed more time with them. The plot was surprisingly simple. I kept expecting there to be more twists, but Vinegar Girl was still a sweet, funny…
Sep 27, 20180Charlie rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Having read several works that use Shakespeare stories, I was interested in the approach to this work. Using the play "The Taming of the Shrew", the author updated the scenario and characters. Unfortunately, I did not find the outcome new…
Feb 04, 2018ArapahoeAnnaL rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
The Hogarth Shakespeare project invited prominent novelists to retell the stories of his plays. This charming and funny short book is based on The Taming of the Shrew.
May 05, 2017
I found Vinegar Girl to be a fun and charming read. Anne Tyler is a talented author who can create a readable story without resorting to disaster and catastrophe. This was my introduction to the series retelling some of the works of…
Apr 25, 2017ontherideau rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
A quick read, it might have been a quick write as well. I was cheering for Bunny by the end.
Feb 15, 2017ArapahoeKelsey rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
This hasn't been my favorite retelling of The Taming of the Shrew. I love the whole idea of this story, and I liked the new twist on the reason that these two people get married, but I feel like it was very two-dimensional. In the…
Nov 20, 2016AndCo rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Others have noted the awkward plot twists that remind me of a sitcom, but I think this book should be listed in the book The Novel Cure as therapy for "Accepting yourself, having difficulty." The main characters are socially inept, others…
Oct 07, 2016
OK. before we go any further, lets just say this is not the book for a feminist to read and take seriously. And the fact it is labelled fiction - contemporary women is just laughable. Anne Tyler doesn't have much to work with…
Oct 01, 2016
Part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series, Tyler recasts "The Taming of the Shrew" very enjoyably. Light and funny with compelling characters - you may decide to read the play!
Sep 29, 2016dmd1949 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
A very quick read and once the story got going very entertaining. I laughed out loud several times. This book will definitely be made into a movie...hope it is as funny.
Sep 12, 2016
Never having read Anne Tyler before, I was most disappointed. Caveat Emptor!
Jul 26, 2016pattypi rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Loosely follows Taming of the Shrew plot-wise. Not quite what I expected, Quick read.
Jul 25, 2016Rubicat rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I am in the minority here - I didn't particularly like this re-telling of the shrew play. I thought Shakespeare's version was just great as it is and there was no reason to re-write it for current times. BTW, I didn't feel that it was…
Jul 11, 2016Chapel_Hill_AdultStaff3 rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Decidedly mixed feelings on this one, which fits the source material. (Are we maybe sort of done with Taming of the Shrew? Just, like, as modern people?) I liked Kate, despite her attempts at unlikability, which made it even harder to…