JFF: What are the last three books you read?

 
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi. 4/5.
The Broken Room by Peter Clines. 3/5.
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. Coming of age character-driven science fiction. 5/5!

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot, #2), a novella by Becky Chambers. 4/5.
Question to anyone else reading stories with characters using they/them pronouns. Am I the only one frustrated and confused when reading books with scenes involving multiple characters, yet the ambiguous use of they/them - could mean individuals' actions but could be confused with more than one character in a scene...?

Far from the Light of Heaven by Tade Thompson. Finished tonight. 4/5.

Rare memoir:
M Train by Patti Smith. 3/5. A major step down from her Just Kids memoir, 5/5.

Manga:
An Invitation from a Crab by panpanya. 5/5.
Yotsuba&!, Vol. 6. 5/5.

Notes sur le cinématographe (5/5) (Robert Bresson)

Must read for Bresson fans.

Madame Bovary (4/5) (Gustave Flaubert)

Quite good. A French classic.

Il gattopardo (5/5) (Giussepe Tomasi di Lampedusa)

A deep study of aristocracy by an aristocrat. Genius. Luchino Visconti's film is 10/10, the novel is 5/5. Is this the perfect story? At least, it is one of my favorite.

Carmilla (3/5) (Sheridan Le Fanu)

The beginning is genius. The ending is boring. I have no idea how Le Fanu got away with writing a lesbian erotic story in 1872. One of the first vampire story, it was published before Dracula.

Atuk, elle et nous (3/5) (Michel Jean)

I have read Kukum. This thing is repetitive.

The Death of Ivan Illitch (5/5) (Leo Tolstoy)

 A philosophically powerful novella on death. A ton of realists striking scenes (one of which inspired Pasolini's Teorema)

Anna Karenina (5/5) (Leo Tolstoy)

An almost complete account and reflection on Russian Society. It isn't simply a book on adultery. Even though the titled character is Anna, I prefer Constantin Dmitrich. Reflections on Russia's place amid the industrial revolution in Europe are passionating.

Discours de la méthode (4/5) (René Descartes)

Interesting work even though I do not agree with all of Descartes' findings.

Currently Reading: Isaac Asimov's Foundation (page 141) and Marcel Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu (page 164)

Foundation 1 (Isaac Asimov) (3/5)

Paradox Bound by Peter Clines: 2/5.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (The Carls #1) by Hank Green: 4/5.

Feast Your Eyes by Myla Goldberg: 5/5.

Nonfiction:

Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know by Alexandra Horowitz

Three Deaths: A Tale (4/5) Leo Tolstoy)

Les enfants terribles (Cocteau)

A Letter Concerning Toleration (Locke)

1. Starfish (Rifters #1) by Peter Watts

Reread. 5/5. Audible doesn't have its sequel 

2.The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers

3/5. 

3. Hollow Kingdom (Hollow Kingdom #1) by Kira Jane Buxton (Goodreads Author), 

James Rollins "The Starless Crown"

Kyle Mills "Oath of Loyalty" (he took over writing the Mitch Rapp series on death of Vince Flynn)

Orson Scott Card "The Last Shadow"

Foundation and Empire Isaac Asimov (4/5)

The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America
by Matt Kracht: 4/5. Satire or parody of a field guide for birdwatching.

And two stinkers from the free Audible horror genre.

The Last Stair into Darkness from Cliff Barlow. 2/5

We Sold Our Souls from Grady Hendrix. Also 2/5.

The Night Parade by Ronald Malfi. 2/5.

Singularity Sky (Eschaton, #1) by Charles Stross. 3/5.

Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen. Looking forward to the second in the Annie McIntyre mystery series next year.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Perfect debut novel. All the feels. 5/5.

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 1 (and vols. 2, 3, and 4) by Tomohito Oda. All 5/5. Could have used these manga books in middle school and high school.

1. A World of Curiosities: A Novel by Louise Penny

2. Prisoners of the Castle: An Epic Story of Survival and Escape from Colditz, the Nazis' Fortress Prison by Ben Macintyre

3. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
And now I'm almost finished with A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, and that story is amazing. I enjoyed reading it, and it's a pity that I didn't read it earlier. And I think I would never have read it if not for the literature course homework. I needed to write a paper on that story, so I needed to read it. Before I started reading, I found this site https://supremestudy.com/essay-examples/a-rose-for-emily/ with different short A Rose for Emily Essay examples, and I thought that it would be enough for me to understand the plot and write the paper. But when I read two examples, I became interested in reading, and I have no regrets now.
And I sincerely recommend you to read it, it won't take a lot of time, but you'll for sure love it.

Blindsight (Firefall, #1) by Peter Watts. Reread. 5/5.

Axis (Spin, #2) by Robert Charles Wilson. 4/5.

Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer. 4/5.

Infinite (Infinite, #1) by Jeremy Robinson. 2/5.

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. 2/5.

MANGA/Graphic Novels

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 2, 3 and 4. All 5/5.

Huda F Are You? by Huda Fahmy. 3/5.

Everything Is OK by Debbie Tung. 4/5.

Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure by Lewis Hancox. 4/5.

Here is also the last three short stories I read and liked:

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by A Charlotte Perkins Gilman

"A Good Man Is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor

"Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway