The Tom Holland book is very, very well-written, so it's a lot like reading a novel (I stayed up until 2 a.m. finishing it even though I knew what happened. Hee!)

And Everitt (maybe it's two ts, I can't remember!) used a lot of Cicero's own letters in his biography so the guy who emerges has this very engaging sense of humor. He seems like someone you'd like to chat with.