My partner has all the right political instincts and really wants to bolster their knowledge of the systems of socialism/communism and the ideologies therein.
I was initially thinking of recommending Blackshirts and Reds by Parenti as that was an entry point for me to shed any remaining lib tendencies I had.
Would love to hear what y'all would recommend!
"Why socialism" by Albert Einstein is a good start, can easily knock it out in an hour.
This Redsails essay about how to view CHUDs, basically. Don't make the mistake of writing everyone off as sheeple, and you as this enlightened god. I made that mistake and was promptly directed to this essay.
They're not nearly number one on the reading list in my opinion, but both are relatively quick reads that can give them the idea of what to expect and neither are particularly sectarian. Regardless, I still recommend for anyone to check out theory from leftist groups outside your own subgroup, like MLs reading the bread book or anarchists reading What Is To Be Done.