The Shelf: 99 Books, Read Like a Writer

Ninety-nine books, two weeks each, read strictly from a writer’s point of view. Mostly science fiction, with its literary roots and the Hungarian classics underneath, plus the detours the nightstand demands. Some earn an entry in the 99 SF Novels series. Some don’t. This is the shelf.

5 of 99 read

On the nightstand

Reading now Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Olga Tokarczuk, 2009
Up next Omon Ra Victor Pelevin, 1992
Up next A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller Jr., 1959

Phase 1 · The Foundation Course May–Aug 2026 · 5/7 read

Read: The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood, 1985
Read: Roadside Picnic Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, 1972
Read: The Dispossessed Ursula K. Le Guin, 1974
Read: Babel-17 Samuel R. Delany, 1966
Read: Solaris Stanisław Lem, 1961
On the list: Stand on Zanzibar John Brunner, 1968
On the list: The Fifth Head of Cerberus Gene Wolfe, 1972

Phase 2 · Anglosphere Foundations Aug–Dec 2026 · 0/10 read

On the list: The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury, 1950
On the list: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick, 1968
On the list: The Cyberiad Stanisław Lem, 1965
On the list: The Demolished Man Alfred Bester, 1953
On the list: Foundation Isaac Asimov, 1951
On the list: The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin, 1969
On the list: Hard to Be a God Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, 1964
On the list: Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury, 1953
On the list: Ubik Philip K. Dick, 1969
On the list: Neuromancer William Gibson, 1984

Phase 3 · New Wave + Literary Jan–Jun 2027 · 0/12 read

On the list: The Stars My Destination Alfred Bester, 1956
On the list: Camp Concentration Thomas M. Disch, 1968
On the list: Greybeard Brian W. Aldiss, 1964
On the list: His Master's Voice Stanisław Lem, 1968
On the list: The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick, 1962
On the list: Her Smoke Rose Up Forever James Tiptree Jr., 1990
On the list: The Word for World Is Forest Ursula K. Le Guin, 1972
On the list: The Crystal World J. G. Ballard, 1966
On the list: The Inhabited Island Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, 1969
On the list: Helliconia Spring Brian W. Aldiss, 1982
On the list: VALIS Philip K. Dick, 1981
On the list: Kindred Octavia E. Butler, 1979

Phase 4 · Modern + Literary Roots Jun–Dec 2027 · 0/14 read

On the list: The Three-Body Problem Liu Cixin, 2008
On the list: Ficciones Jorge Luis Borges, 1944
On the list: The Dark Forest Liu Cixin, 2008
On the list: Cosmicomics Italo Calvino, 1965
On the list: Death's End Liu Cixin, 2010
On the list: The Woman in the Dunes Kōbō Abe, 1962
On the list: Stories of Your Life and Others Ted Chiang, 2002
On the list: The City & the City China Miéville, 2009
On the list: Annihilation Jeff VanderMeer, 2014
On the list: Authority Jeff VanderMeer, 2014
On the list: Acceptance Jeff VanderMeer, 2014
On the list: The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov, 1967
On the list: The Metamorphosis + The Trial Franz Kafka, 1915/1925
On the list: The Futurological Congress Stanisław Lem, 1971

Phase 5 · Heavy Hitters + Roots Jan–Jun 2028 · 0/12 read

On the list: Frankenstein Mary Shelley, 1818
On the list: The Time Machine + The War of the Worlds H. G. Wells, 1895/1898
On the list: The Shadow of the Torturer Gene Wolfe, 1980
On the list: The Claw of the Conciliator Gene Wolfe, 1981
On the list: The Sword of the Lictor Gene Wolfe, 1982
On the list: The Citadel of the Autarch Gene Wolfe, 1983
On the list: Hyperion Dan Simmons, 1989
On the list: The Fall of Hyperion Dan Simmons, 1990
On the list: The Player of Games Iain M. Banks, 1988
On the list: The Female Man Joanna Russ, 1975
On the list: Dhalgren Samuel R. Delany, 1975
On the list: A Wizard of Earthsea Ursula K. Le Guin, 1968

Phase 6 · Hungarian Classics + Canon Gaps Jun 2028–Nov 2029 · 0/38 read

On the list: Szürke galamb (The Grey Pigeon) Sándor Tar, 1996
On the list: The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Ken Liu, 2016
On the list: The Sinistra Zone Ádám Bodor, 1992
On the list: Dune Frank Herbert, 1965
On the list: Metropole Ferenc Karinthy, 1970
On the list: The Lathe of Heaven Ursula K. Le Guin, 1971
On the list: Voyage to Kazohinia Sándor Szathmári, 1941
On the list: Stranger in a Strange Land Robert A. Heinlein, 1961
On the list: Satantango László Krasznahorkai, 1985
On the list: Ringworld Larry Niven, 1970
On the list: Az érsek látogatása (The Archbishop's Visit) Ádám Bodor, 1999
On the list: Star Maker Olaf Stapledon, 1937
On the list: Capillaria Frigyes Karinthy, 1921
On the list: Gateway Frederik Pohl, 1977
On the list: Selected Stories Géza Csáth
On the list: The Tombs of Atuan Ursula K. Le Guin, 1971
On the list: The Melancholy of Resistance László Krasznahorkai, 1989
On the list: 2001: A Space Odyssey Arthur C. Clarke, 1968
On the list: Saulus Miklós Mészöly, 1968
On the list: The Farthest Shore Ursula K. Le Guin, 1972
On the list: School at the Frontier Géza Ottlik, 1959
On the list: More Than Human Theodore Sturgeon, 1953
On the list: Tehanu Ursula K. Le Guin, 1990
On the list: Super-State Brian W. Aldiss, 2002
On the list: A Fire Upon the Deep Vernor Vinge, 1992
On the list: Celestial Harmonies Péter Esterházy, 2000
On the list: The Deep Range Arthur C. Clarke, 1957
On the list: Lord of Light Roger Zelazny, 1967
On the list: Captivity György Spiró, 2005
On the list: Ender's Game Orson Scott Card, 1985
On the list: The Case Worker György Konrád, 1969
On the list: The Dying Earth Jack Vance, 1950
On the list: Always Coming Home Ursula K. Le Guin, 1985
On the list: Red Mars Kim Stanley Robinson, 1992
On the list: Selected Stories Iván Mándy
On the list: Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke, 1953
On the list: Snow Crash Neal Stephenson, 1992
On the list: Gravity's Rainbow Thomas Pynchon, 1973

Detours off the plan, on the nightstand · 0/3 read

Reading now: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Olga Tokarczuk, 2009
Up next: Omon Ra Victor Pelevin, 1992
Up next: A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller Jr., 1959

Wild cards three free picks to round it up to ninety-nine · 0/3 read

On the list: We Yevgeny Zamyatin, 1924
On the list: War with the Newts Karel Čapek, 1936
On the list: Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut, 1969