A bleak, newly relevant sci-fi classic about first contact; a haunting 2000s mystery-thriller; and more

Roundup 05/19/2025

Greetings from Read Max HQ, and welcome to our weekly roundup column, in which I pick out some worthwhile and often overlooked books, articles, movies, and music to recommend to paying subscribers. For this week’s round-up, I’ve got:

• A terrific recent sci-fi classic that I’ve been thinking about constantly while playing around with L.L.M. chatbots;

• a beautiful, haunting 2000s mystery thriller for fans of “obsessive detectives in geographically/culturally specific place”-type TV shows; and

• four tracks I’m really loving.

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I love to hear from readers who want to recommend a cool book or movie (or whatever!) to me, or from readers who are looking for specific kinds of recommendations. Just leave a comment or drop me a line at maxread@gmail.com.

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Now, the roundup. :