One of the books that the AH booklist recommends the book Byzantium in the Seventh Century: The Transformation of a Culture by John Haldon, I personally have not read it but I've heard good things about and it might be up your alley. Of the books that I've personally read I would recommend number of books: Authority in Byzantine Provincial Society, 950-1100 by Leonora Neville, is one of them and its a fascinating look at the relationship between Imperial authority and the provinces in the middle Byzantine period; Byzantine Legal Culture and the Roman Legal Tradition, 867-1056 by Zachary Chitwood is another, which explores changes in within Byzantine legal culture and the interplay between Roman law, and Christianity under the Macedonian dynasty; Romanland: Empire and Ethnicity in Byzantium by Anthony Kaldellis, one of my favorite books, explores Roman identity as an ethnicity during the middle Byzantine period and its of particular interest if you are interested in the identity of the empire's inhabitants; The Empire of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143-1180 by Paul Magdalino, is another great book and is a magnificent study of the empire under the great emperor Manuel I that explores its government, society, and culture; and finally there is Church and Society in Byzantium under the Comneni, 1081-1261 by Michael Angold, which explores the Orthodox Church and Byzantine society under the Komnenian dynasty and its successors (the Angeloi, and the Laskarids). Furthermore if you want books that cover more of a political narrative of the empire I highly recommend Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood: the Rise and Fall of Byzantium, 955 A.D. to the First Crusade by Anthony Kaldellis, Byzantium and the Crusades by Jonathan Harris, and The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261-1453 by Donald M. Nicol.