Ancient World discussion

My friend Ray mentioned that he liked 'Immersive History' books.
I don't have a definition of what that means, but thought I'd throw this out to the community to see if anyone has any suggestions. So - using your imagination of what 'immersive history' means - can you recommend an 'immersive' book on ancient history?

Personally, I really liked Red Land, Black Land by Barbara Mertz, who is a mystery novel writer as well as a historian. It's a book about daily life in Ancient Egypt, but (rare for a history book) she's not shy to share her opinions on various aspects of the subject and the scholarship around them, which made it entertaining, A bit like having tea with an expert storyteller.
Red Land, Black Land: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt

And speaking of storyteller, I really enjoyed Irving Finkel's The Ark Before Noah - which is not only a book about the origin of the Flood myth, but it also gives some real insight into the life of an ancient scribe, AND it's full of fun anecdotes about being a curator at the British Museum.
The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood