A great fake travel book, a cool indie sci-fi movie about gig work and giant cubes, and an album I need your help with

Roundup 05/21/2023

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. This week I’ve got:

• A great fantasy travelogue (and a book club to go with it);

• a cool indie sci-fi comedy about gig work and strange cubes in the woods; and

• a good album from one of the people in CCFX.

If any of that sounds interesting -- and if you want to support Read Max in its continuing mission of explaining the future to relatively normal people -- please subscribe below. Subscribers get access to these weekly emails and to the comprehensive Read Max Master Lists of Good Movies to Watch and Good Books to Read--as well as preferred pricing on merchandise like the Read Max “EMAIL SUPPLY” caps. If you’re already a subscriber, thank you.

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.

Now, the roundup. First, as always, a dispatch from the future: