Todavía me queda por leer el último capítulo de la novela.

Quedar here expresses the idea of something remaining.

So me queda por leer el último capítulo literally works like:

• me = to me
• queda = remains / is left
• por leer = to read

A very literal version would be: The last chapter remains for me to read.

Spanish often uses quedar for this kind of idea, where English would usually say I still have ... left.

Compare:

• Todavía me queda por leer el último capítulo. = I still have the last chapter left to read.
• Todavía tengo que leer el último capítulo. = I still have to read the last chapter.

Both are natural, but me queda por leer emphasizes that it is the only thing or one of the few things still remaining.

Me is an indirect object pronoun meaning to me / for me.

In this structure, Spanish often marks the person affected by what remains:

• Me queda un capítulo. = I have one chapter left.
• Te quedan dos páginas. = You have two pages left.
• Nos queda mucho trabajo. = We still have a lot of work left.

So me queda por leer el último capítulo is not reflexive. It does not mean I remain myself or anything like that. The me simply shows who has something left to do.

Because quedar is agreeing with the thing that remains, not with the person.

The grammatical subject is el último capítulo de la novela, which is singular, so the verb is queda.

Think of it like this:

• Me queda el último capítulo.
  • subject = el último capítulo
  • verb = queda

If the subject were plural, the verb would be plural too:

• Me quedan dos capítulos por leer. = I still have two chapters left to read.

This is one of the main things English speakers have to get used to: the verb does not agree with me, but with the thing left.

Por + infinitive in this structure means left to do or still to be done.

So:

• queda por leer = remains to be read / is left to read

This is a very common pattern:

• Queda mucho por hacer. = There’s still a lot to do.
• Me quedan dos temas por estudiar. = I still have two topics left to study.
• Hay varias cosas por resolver. = There are several things left to sort out.

Why por? Because here por conveys the idea of pending action, something not yet completed.

This is different from para + infinitive, which usually expresses purpose:

• Un vaso para beber agua = a glass for drinking water

So in your sentence, por leer does not mean purpose. It means not read yet.

In standard Spanish, me queda por leer is the more natural and expected form here.

Without por, the sentence sounds incomplete or unnatural in this meaning.

Natural:

• Todavía me queda por leer el último capítulo.

Less natural / generally avoided for this meaning:

• Todavía me queda leer el último capítulo.

The por is important because it marks the action as still pending.

Todavía means still here. It emphasizes that the action has not been completed yet.

So the sentence is not just saying there is a chapter left, but that even now, after some progress, one chapter remains.

You could compare:

• Me queda por leer el último capítulo. = I have the last chapter left to read.
• Todavía me queda por leer el último capítulo. = I still have the last chapter left to read.

The second one puts more stress on the idea of not yet finished.

Yes. In this sentence, todavía and aún are basically interchangeable:

• Todavía me queda por leer el último capítulo.
• Aún me queda por leer el último capítulo.

Both are natural and mean the same thing.

In everyday speech, todavía is very common. Aún can sound slightly more formal or literary in some contexts, but both are standard.

Yes, the position is flexible.

All of these are possible:

• Todavía me queda por leer el último capítulo de la novela.
• Me queda todavía por leer el último capítulo de la novela.
• Me queda por leer todavía el último capítulo de la novela. (possible, but less neutral)

The most neutral and common position is often near the beginning:

• Todavía me queda...
• Aún me queda...

Putting todavía first makes the still/not yet idea prominent.

Here it means last in the sense of final.

Because we are talking about a novel, el último capítulo is naturally understood as the final chapter.

In other contexts, último can also mean latest / most recent, depending on meaning:

• la última noticia = the latest news
• el último capítulo de la novela = the final chapter of the novel

So context decides the best interpretation.

Spanish normally uses the article here:

• el último capítulo de la novela

This is the standard way to say the last chapter of the novel.

In Spanish, articles are used more often than in English, especially with nouns in general references or when the noun is already identifiable from context.

Could you leave it out? Only if the context already makes it obvious:

• Todavía me queda por leer el último capítulo.

That is perfectly fine if everyone already knows which book you mean.

Both are natural, but they focus on slightly different things.

• Todavía no he leído el último capítulo de la novela.

  • Focus: the action has not happened yet.
  • Very direct: I still haven’t read the last chapter.

• Todavía me queda por leer el último capítulo de la novela.

  • Focus: the chapter is what remains.
  • Sounds a bit more like you have almost finished the book, and this is the only part left.

So the second one is especially good when you want to highlight what is still pending.

Yes. Me falta leer... is also very natural.

Compare:

• Me queda por leer el último capítulo.
• Me falta leer el último capítulo.

Both can mean I still have the last chapter left to read.

A small nuance:

• me queda por leer often sounds like this is what remains
• me falta leer often sounds like this is what I still need to read

In many everyday contexts, the difference is very small, and either one would be understood perfectly.

No. This is not a reflexive use.

The base verb is quedar, and me is not a reflexive pronoun here. It is an indirect object pronoun.

So this is not like:

• Me lavo. = I wash myself.
  where me is reflexive.

Instead, it is more like:

• Me gusta el libro.
• Me queda un capítulo.

In both cases, me means something like to me.