As a youngin' I recall learning in school how the American colonists were rebelling against the evil British who taxed their tea and stamps and were highly tyrannical!
In college I learned that the colonists basically provoked a costly colonial war, which the British won, expanding the land the colonists could occupy and that the taxes were reasonable and not even remotely tyrannical, but that the main point of contention for the colonists was that they were used to self governance.
Yet I have never read extensively on perspectives from the times on the matter, or scholarly opinions and I am curious. Can anyone suggest any interesting reading on the topic or care to their their own opinion?
A question over how "justified" the American Revolution was is a very subjective question. Because it's subjective, you'll rarely see scholars weigh in on whether or not they were justified for rebellion. That said, I can at least focus on a few things you said and share a perspective that I've come to have after having spent the last year of my life studying this in graduate school (not to mention my time studying it in undergrad).
First, I'd like to answer your question on suggested reading. Two books come to mind: The first is by highly influential historian Gary Nash: The Unknown American Revolution : The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create America. The other is a relatively new book by Clement Fatovic called, America's Founding and the Struggle over Economic Inequality. Both of these books will give you a much better understanding of what life was like for the "average" person during this era and can help provide some perspective into whether or not it was justified to go to war in 1775.
Now, to try and answer your primary question: I believe there were plenty of reasons that could justify war with Great Britain during the 1770s, especially if you were not part of the gentry or wealthy merchant class. Among my reasons for saying this is that following the French and Indian War, Americans were suffering from a harsh economic depression. Part of this was that due to the fact that starting in 1764, the British started banning paper money. (George Athan. The History of the British Empire, from the Year 1765, to the End of 1783. pp 6.) The act itself is known as the Currency Act of 1764, which devastated the colonies. This is significant because during the War, states started issuing paper money when gold and silver ran out. By some estimates, half or more than half of all currency in circulation by the 1760s was paper money. When the British Empire rendered it worthless, and forbade colonists from paying debts or buying goods from British merchants, you had entire life savings become worthless almost instantly. Many people lost their homes, businesses, and farms due to this.
The British also began to strongly enforce mercantilism, where they forbade the colonists from importing goods from anyone else besides Great Britain. This was extremely costly too because they British forbade Colonists from creating their own goods -- even things like textiles for clothes or iron couldn't be processed and created in America. Raw iron could be turned into something called "Pig Iron" but then the raw goods would be shipped back to England. Then after it's refined, the iron would be shipped and sold back to the Americans at a very steep price. For a series of colonies that were already struggling financially, it was very painful for the average American family.
These are just two examples for the colonists side. Were the taxes levied against them low? Yes. Were they, in perspective fair? Kinda. Were most of them rescinded before they were even fully implemented due to protests? Yes. But one of the main issues amongst the average person was that since they couldn't pay with paper money, since they couldn't pay with crops, and since it had to be paid in gold and silver -- which they couldn't earn by selling their goods to Spain, France or other countries who would pay them in silver and gold -- they had some legitimate grievances against British government. Does this justify anything? Well, that's for you to decide.