The Art of the Cholas by Vidya Dehejia (1990) is the most accessible scholarly overview of the dynasty's sculpture and temple building. Dehejia writes clearly for non-specialists and her photographs show the Nataraja bronzes and the Brihadisvara carvings in detail that a single temple visit cannot provide.
The Chola Temples by K.R. Srinivasan (Archaeological Survey of India, 1972) is harder to find but invaluable on-site reading. It covers Thanjavur, Gangaikondacholapuram, and Darasuram with floor plans and architectural description that make the stonework legible.
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster doesn't touch Thanjavur, but it remains the best novel for understanding the weight of colonial India — useful background for making sense of the British Maratha Confederacy palace layers inside the Royal Palace complex.
The Cilappatikaram (The Lay of the Anklet) is the 2nd-century Tamil epic set partly in the Chola heartland — the oldest surviving major literary work in Tamil. Alain Danielou's translation (1965) is readable and puts the temple culture in a long-arc context that no guide book can.