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A phenomenal alternate-Chinese-history noir, a gorgeous new kids' movie, and more

Roundup 02/02/2025

Feb 02, 2026
∙ Paid

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 fantastic alt-history noir set in an occupied China, for fans of Fatherland and Disco Elysium;

  • a gorgeous, moving kids’ movie that my five-year-old actually sat through and seemed to sort of follow; and

  • four new songs I’ve been digging.

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.

Finally, please note that I may receive a small commission if you purchase books via links in this email.

Now, the roundup:

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