To give a little background...I recently starting reading a lot of scripture and I have been following this subreddit for a little while now and have been picking up resources here and there when I see highly recommended ones come up.

Assuming this is allowed...I would love if some people could chime in on some "basic" intro-type material on biblical academics or critical looks at biblical stuff. Not asking for a top 5 or 10 list but I don't know where to start.

The few I know and have are Discovering The New Testament 1/2 by Keown, Behind The Gospels, The New Testament in Antiquity, Fate of The Apostles but I know there's a ton out there. My focus would be on I suppose the authenticity, authorship, theories on identifying biblical figures etc. I wish I had a smarter way of phrasing this.

So...is there a recommended beginners reading list I should be focusing on from an academic point of view?