I too struggle with how over my head some of the crucial theory books can be (I have to be in the correct headspace to read a lot of books in general these days). But I have found Luna Oi’s translation of the Vietnamese school book on ML to be a helpful read so far (started and made more progress than the main works). It being meant for students and having just so many footnotes giving context is nice for a starting point (imo). I will admit that some of the footnotes and citations can be visually overwhelming, but I got used to them after I started just reading and getting into the information.

https://www.lunaoi.com/product/the-worldview-and-philosophical-methodology-of-marxism-leninism-preorder/

The link says it is a pre-order, but it has been released.