I'm almost finished listening to Blackshirts and Reds by Parenti, one of the books in the list that @Cowbee@lemmy.ml posted as a reply to your message. I think it's been a great introductory book - brief and easy to understand.
It's wide-ranging book even though it's brief, and one of the things I found interesting about it was that he not only gave credit where it was due (ex: producing vastly more egalitarian society with all the benefits that come with that) but he also pointed out some shortcomings, such as the failure of centrally planning national economies, like someone else has pointed out in another comment here. I highly recommend the book.
Edit: I also wanted to say props to you for being open-minded and trying to learn and understand instead of just swallowing the narrative we've been fed our whole lives.
Thank you for continuing to suggest Parenti's book! I think you're the poster who has been regularly suggesting it in your posts as a first read, correct? If that's the case, it was thanks to you that I read it! It's a great book. Once I finish this I will work down the rest of your reading list.