A great, pulpy, 'Game of Thrones'-but-real historical epic; a sweeping thriller of Nazi occupation; and more

Roundup 05/25/2025

Greetings from Read Max Temporary Memorial Day HQ on Fire Island, 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:

• Great, pulpy, George R.R. Martin-endorsed historical fiction;

• smart essays and columns on Elon Musk, Ange Postecoglou, Barry Diller, and Graydon carter;

• a sweeping, thrilling WWII-occuption flick that’s an excellent post-Andor watch; and

• four tracks I’ve been listening to a ton lately.

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Now, the roundup: