History of the Middle East/Islam Book Recommendations?

[Angrboda]

I don't have any suggestions specifically relating to books, but to my mind, history is one of those subjects which requires looking at it from both the bird's eye view as well as the worm's eye view. Unfortunately, this usually involves a lot of ping-ponging. Rather than that, I would suggest spending a number of nights link hopping through Wikipedia. It's accessible, easy to digest, and you can cover a lot of ground at both zoom levels while getting a feel for the overall contours of the subject. To a lesser extent you can use the references for looking at what gets quoted and referenced in the literature. It also allows you to remain motivated by zooming in on detail that captures your fancy, in or outside of Wikipedia, to keep your interest level high.

Beyond that, if you really want to study the period, I suggest devoting time to researching bibliographies on the subject, both online and in books about the subject (sometimes it's worth it to borrow a book to see where it leads, even if you don't read the book).