#natsuko imamura

[lierrelearns]

今村夏子（いまむら・なつこ）ーむらさきのスカートの女 Natsuko Imamura - The Woman in the Purple Skirt (2019) Translated by Lucy North (2022)

A very quick read, I finished this in a day while commuting to and from work. The narrator pulls you into this darkly fascinating observation of a woman in her neighborhood. She eventually becomes the narrator’s coworker. The prose is sharp and witty; it’s palatably unsettling. While the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan is alarmingly unaware of how creepy she is, I’m glad she provides a brief glimpse into the life of the Woman in the Purple Skirt. Honestly, I felt as though I would have wanted to befriend her too.

Also, this story does not skimp on the drama! We’ve got obsession, financial trouble, workplace cattiness, and an affair... and more! All in 216 pages.

I highly recommend this short novel. If you read it, please let me know what you think!

#Japanese literature #今村夏子 #むらさきのスカートの女 #Natsuko Imamura #literature in translation #literature #日本語

[dawn-falls]

Dame Agatha Christie is one of the characters we know too little about in BSD aside from her personality (partially), ruthlessness and role as a future antagonist. So, I decided to give her some spotlight together with some of my OCs.

And Then There Were Two is a story about Dame Agatha Christie finding herself amused over two Japanese gals: Natsuko Imamura and Misa Yamamura, both very different, yet so alike. Their relationship can be somewhat considered parallel to Ranpo and Poe. So if you're interested for something like that, the link is down below. If you read the story, I hope you like it!

#bsd #bsd anime #bsd manga #bungou stray dogs #bsd oc #bsd ocs #fanon #alternate timeline #alternate universe #fanmade #dame agatha christie #agatha christie #natsuko imamura #purple woman #misa yamamura #the order of the clock tower

[strawberry-library]

my christmas wishlist, 2022

a bunny themed phone stand

Victoria’s Secret pajamas

TONYMOLY face masks

strawberry-themed phone case

The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura

pink slippers

Yankee Candle in “Frosty Gingerbread”

three lace tops in black, white, and brown

philosophy’s Ballet Rose Eau de Parfum

Victoria’s Secret Getaway Glam bag in “Iconic Stripe”

Gone Girl by Gillian Field

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

a Macbook Air (maybe as a graduation gift)

Wet n Wild Perfect Pout gloss in “Sweetest Pick”

white cross knit sweater

#berry filled with thoughts #winter #christmas #coquette #christmas list #winter holidays #fashion #bath and body works #victoria’s secret #juliette has a gun #the woman in the purple skirt #natsuko imamura #wishlist ideas #miffy

[studywithjennifer]

The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura

Book 54/50 of 2022

Date Finished: 11th September 2022

Rating: 2/5

#i was really looking forward to this book #and it was so disappointing #literature #books #reading #japanese literature #natsuko imamura #the woman in the purple skirt #thriller fiction

[ashuuuuuuu]

I really enjoyed The woman in the purple skirt by Natsuko Imamura. On the surface of it, it's really about a woman stalking another woman and just a slice-of-life kind of story about her daily life but it's so much. It's about loneliness, gossiping and it explores human nature in a a very subtle way. Natsuko Imamura's writing is brilliant that you could just finish this short novel in just one sitting.

I was hooked from page one because of how immersive the world she made was.I also really liked how we knew literally nothing about the narrator until the very end.

Like she's telling us about everyone but not herself and the fact that she's a stalker but she means no harm to the woman being stalked and she's also not a sexual predator. She just wants to be friends which is really weird and just yeah. I really enjoyed the book and how it's kind of a strange character study.

#the woman in the purple skirt #Natsuko Imamura #literature #japanese literature #books & libraries #book review

[monkeyandinkpot]

The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura

This book is without a doubt the strangest thriller I have ever known. And also, despite this—or perhaps because of it—one of the best. It is subtle and psychological, pulling the reader into the complex inner world of someone who calls herself “the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan”. At first, the narrator seems sane, reliable even—she is one of many people obsessed with a person known as “the Woman in the Purple Skirt”. The Woman in the Yellow Cardigan follows this “local celebrity’s” movements with scientific precision; perhaps her scrutiny is a little more thorough than the norm, but harmless, surely. And then the soft woollen threads of their lives become increasingly intertwined, with disastrous consequences. Before long everything has come unspooled.

Darkly witty, intricate, and expertly observed, this is a sympathetic, compulsively readable portrait of loneliness and mental difference.

As translated into English by Lucy North, The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura was first published by Faber in 2020.

#literature #fiction in translation #reviews #japanese literature #thriller #natsuko imamura

[kunoichi96]

Reading Recap: February

The “month of love” is finally over, or at least it will be in a few days. What this means is winter is finally starting to melt away, giving way to spring. Here in Scotland, it sure feels like Persephone is taking her sweet time returning to her mother as it has been chilly and all-around depressing. Hopefully, this will change soon enough.  I managed to get a fair amount of reading done this…

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#Book Blog #Book Blogger #Book Recommendations #Books #Bookworm #Comfort Me With Apples #Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente #Elegies by Carol Ann Duffy #Heartstopper #Heartstopper by Alice Oseman #Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu #The Fall of the House of Usher #The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe #The Woman in the Purple Skirt #The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura #Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

[silenthillbunni]

1-2-3-12? 🥰💜

1. how many books did you read this year? 94!!

2. did you reread anything? no rereads, i pretty much never reread books. i was abt to reread shatter me like 3 times tho T-T

3. what were your top five books of the year? Belladonna by Adalyn Grace, Bitterthorn by Kat Dunn, The very secret society of irregular witches by Sangu Mandanna, The woman in the purple skirt by Natsuko Imamura and Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones. (in order)

12. any books that disappointed you? the lost apothecary by sarah penner... i thought it was gonna be witchy vibes and potion making but it was just all the women being obsessed with getting pregnant and giving birth (which is so not my thing. it's like the opposite of my thing). also anxiety in relationships by claire kaufman. i was hoping to get tips but instead it was just the author having a very condescending and blaming tone to ppl who struggle w those things :/

#thank u sm for the numbers beloved mutual 🫶💕!! #ask

[jemimaland]

dream girl book recommendations ✨

girly, smart book recommendations that will make people think you're cool.

anything by eve babitz or joan didion (but i recommend eve's hollywood and play it as it lays)

a biography of a woman from history (like marie antoinette, madame du pompadour, the romanov sisters)

the virgin suicides by jeffery eugenides

the new me by halle butler

breasts and eggs by mieko kawakami

last summer in the city by gianfranco calligarich

summer crossing by truman capote

bonjour tristesse by francois sagan

gigi and the cat by colette

the woman in the purple skirt by natsuko imamura

any persephone book (but especially to bed with grand music by marghanita laski)

I'm glad my mom died by jennette mccurdy

girl, interrupted by susanna kaysen

fleabag: the special edition by phoebe waller-bridge

winter in sokcho by elisa shua dusapin

the vegetarian by han kang

#pink pilates girl #pink pilates princess #pink #self care #pretty #princess #self improvement #that girl #girly #glow up #book recs 2023 #book recs #book recommendations #book reccs #books and reading

[vympr]

Oooh for books mandeep do u have any recs for like thriller/suspence/mystery kind of stuff? hehe😋💗 Also idk if this is like. I feel like my reading has been a bit like limited and just random horror stuff lately but like. Do you have any recs for fun kind of like 'girly' or idk girl centric in that they feel kinda fun/maybe a bit silly but centered on girls/women but not just like. Teenagers? But that u enjoyed/found interesting? idk if that a lot to ask or is that just everywhere and I don't realise? Also if u have any girly fun horror ones id love that too!

omg yeas hehe for the fun girly ones i would again rec cackle by rachel harrison, if the shoe fits by julie murphy, cover story by susan rigetti, counterfeit by kirstin chen, the hotel nantucket by elin hilderbrand (all of these have a good mix of "good for her" and "they are probably gay")

also for thrillers/mysteries: the last to vanish by megan miranda, the cage by bonnie kessler, the paris apartment AND the guest list by lucy foley (i hope she doesn't let me down cuz she is 2 for 2 for locational mysteries), false witness by karin slaughter, the woman in the purple skirt by natsuko imamura, pretty as a picture by elizabeth little, all dressed up by jilly gagnon (a tribute to Agatha christie), the hacienda by isabel cañas (more horror ish), the old woman and the knife by gu byeong-mo

#books

[godzilla-reads]

Astrology Book Recs

♊️ Gemini the Twins: May 22-June 21

“Gemini is the sign of the twins, and a certain duality always marks it. A Gemini may seem possessed of conflicting personalities, now affectionate and fun-filled, then suddenly cold and impersonal.

Gemini is a restless air sign, more comfortable with change and constant stimulation than security. Those born under this sign like to travel and to meet new experiences. Their quick wit makes them immediately attractive, but their restlessness may make it hard for them to form long lasting relationships.”

♊️ The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

♊️ Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim

♊️ What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo

♊️ The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

♊️ The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura

#godzilla reads #astrology book recs #astrology #Gemini #Gemini books #book recs #book recommendations #bookblogger #book blog #book blurb #bookstack #reading #booklr #bookworm #booklover

[starsanova]

HELLO 👋🏼

It is high time I bother my writer friends so pls tell me, what are your top 3 favourite books that you've read?

★ ─ hello, my dear! and ohh, this is a good question that got me to think a lot, I have read a lot of books most of them have been written by Western writers. but I am absolutely in love with Japanese literature, and def shows in this list so here are my top 3 (that took me ages to figure out by the way)

no longer human ─ osamu dazai

the woman in the purple skirt ─ natsuko imamura

snow country ─ yasunari kawabata

#ੈ✩‧₊˚ ★ star mail ! #★ moots #✩ karotland

[thelittlestspider]

What counts as weird book in your library? Got any cool recommendations?

last night i was more talking about characters who are just weird themselves.

(some of these i've finished. some i started to read and haven't gotten through yet.)

weird characters

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (finished) - It's about a woman who works at a convenience store who doesn't really fit in and she tries to 'cure' herself to please her friends and family, and ultimately decides she's happy with her life.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (finished) tw: murder, medical abuse, sex, infidelity. It's about a therapist obsessed with a woman who went completely silent after murdering her husband 5 years before. I can't really say any more because it'll give away the ending.

The World Cannot Give by Tara Isabella Burton (finished) - tw: murder, suicide, revenge porn, nudity, child pornography, sex.) This book is a Lot. But it's weirdly compelling. It's about this girl who goes to a school because of her favorite author and winds up falling for the leader of a choir cult.

The Woman In the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura (in progress) - tw: stalking.

Social Creatures by Tara Isabella Burton (in progress)

Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier (in progress)

The New Me by Halle Butler (in progress)

The Vegetarian by Han Kang (in progress)

#abalonetea #kimi replies #kimi reads #i'm still reading stuff #so i may have more recs later #but rn this is what i have

[rockislandadultreads]

Book Recommendations: More Wayward Women in Literature

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

At home full-time with her two-year-old son, an artist finds she is struggling. She is lonely and exhausted. She had imagined - what was it she had imagined? Her husband, always travelling for his work, calls her from faraway hotel rooms. One more toddler bedtime, and she fears she might lose her mind.

Instead, quite suddenly, she starts gaining things, surprising things that happen one night when her child will not sleep. Sharper canines. Strange new patches of hair. New appetites, new instincts. And from deep within herself, a new voice...

The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura

Almost every day, the Woman in the Purple Skirt buys a single cream bun and goes to the park, where she sits on a bench to eat it as the local children taunt her. She is observed at all times by the undetected narrator, the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan. From a distance the Woman in the Purple Skirt looks like a schoolgirl, but there are age spots on her face, and her hair is dry and stiff. Like the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan, she is single, she lives in a small, run-down apartment, and she is short on money. The Woman in the Yellow Cardigan lures her to a job where she herself works, as a hotel housekeeper; soon the Woman in the Purple Skirt is having an affair with the boss. Unfortunately, no one knows or cares about the Woman in the Yellow Cardigan. That's the difference between her and the Woman in the Purple Skirt.

Chemistry by Weike Wang

At first glance, the quirky, overworked narrator of this novel seems to be on the cusp of a perfect life: she is studying for a prestigious PhD in chemistry that will make her Chinese parents proud (or at least satisfied), and her successful, supportive boyfriend has just proposed to her. But instead of feeling hopeful, she is wracked with ambivalence. The long demanding hours at the lab have created an exquisite pressure cooker, and she doesn't know how to answer the marriage question. When it all becomes too much and her life plan veers off course, she finds herself on a new path of discoveries about everything she thought she knew.

The Pisces by Melissa Broder 

Lucy has been writing her dissertation about Sappho for thirteen years when she and Jamie break up. After she hits rock bottom in Phoenix, her Los Angeles-based sister insists Lucy housesit for the summer—her only tasks caring for a beloved diabetic dog and trying to learn to care for herself. Annika’s home is a gorgeous glass cube atop Venice Beach, but Lucy can find no peace from her misery and anxiety—not in her love addiction group therapy meetings, not in frequent Tinder meetups, not in Dominic the foxhound’s easy affection, not in ruminating on the ancient Greeks. Yet everything changes when Lucy becomes entranced by an eerily attractive swimmer one night while sitting alone on the beach rocks.

#fiction #Magical Realism #literary fiction #strong female protagonist #Library Books #Book Recommendations #book recs #Reading Recs #reading recommendations #TBR pile #tbrpile #tbr #to read #Want To Read #Booklr #book tumblr #book blog #library blog

[fereldanwench]

Get to Know Me

I was tagged by the lovely @gloryride, @tetratronic, and @katsigian to do this little questionnaire--Thank you all! 💙

Relationship status: Married (only took us 14 years of living in sin to make it legal, lmao)

Favourite colour(s): Totally dependent on context. Clothes? Black, dark jewel tones, dark earth tones. Nail polish? Literally all the colors. Artwork? Rich, bold colors. I obviously have a fondness for red and blue at the moment, but idk, man, I just like colors.

Favourite food/drinks: Coffee, ginger beer, turkey subs, chips and crackers, clementine oranges

Song stuck in you head: Nothing at this exact moment--Just listening some chill Japanese lofi thing on YouTube--But I did have Here Comes the Rain Again stuck in my head earlier.

Time: 10:21 PM

Last thing you googled: Something either about cat shit or Arasaka lmao

Dream trip: The bar is pretty low right now, tbh. I'd just like to do things again. Ireland, Italy, and Japan are on the bucket list. Would really like to see more of the Western US, especially the Grand Canyon. Honestly, I'd kinda like to just rent a hotel room somewhere for a weekend and be by myself in a new place for a few days, lmao.

Last book you hated reading: Man, I drop books pretty fast when I don't like them. I'm not sure what the most recent one was. Might have been You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero.

Last book you enjoyed reading: I'm currently reading The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura which I'm enjoying.

Last book you read: The last one I finished, I think, was Lost Girls and Love Hotels by Catherine Hanrahan. Liked it but didn't love it. I actually think this might be a rare case where I liked the movie more than the book.

Favourite craft to do in your free time: Uhhhhh all the things? Writing, drawing, coloring, VP, tinkering with blog themes, nail art, whatever. I just like making stuff and doing things.

Bonus! favourite to cook/bake: I have a very complicated relationship with cooking. I wouldn't say so much that I have a favorite thing to cook as much as I occasionally get in moods where I just like to cook anything. Most of the time I resent it, though, because it's not something I can enjoy. It's something I have to do. And I have a complicated relationship with food in general, tbh. It's just all very complicated.

Opinion on the circus: My admittedly pretty uninformed snap-judgment response is hard pass, but I think I went to a circus once when I was like 6 so it's not something I really have a lot of experience with.

Do you have a sense of direction? I do. I'm always the navigator when the husbando and I travel.

#not tagging anyone bc i think i'm like the last person to do this #but as always if you see it and wanna do it go for it! #and feel free to tag me #tumblr: dash games

[clementinethefruitt]

potentials for september reading:

the woman in the purple skirt - natsuko imamura

mondays not coming - tiffany d jackson

a certain hunger - chelsea g summers

nightshift - kiare ladner

confessions - kanae minato

masters of death - olivie blake

i haven't been reading too much lately. haven't been doing much of anything that feels good or worthwhile lately. it's already the fourth but here's to hoping i can get myself to try.

#books #reading #tbr #tbr pile #september reading