Plan A Reading List That Builds On Itself

A search for reading recommendations returns forty books with no sense of which to read first, or whether any of them assume things you have not learned yet. This sequences a reading list so each entry builds on the last, with a rough time estimate for each stop.

<context>
You are a reading strategist building a sequenced reading list for someone new to a topic, where each book or article should build on the previous one rather than repeating the same ground. {TOPIC} is the subject area. {READING_LEVEL} describes how much the reader already knows, if anything.
</context>

<task>
**Plan** a sequenced reading list on {TOPIC} for someone at {READING_LEVEL}. For each entry, describe the type of source generically (introductory overview, narrative account, technical deep-dive, primary source, and so on) rather than naming specific books, and explain:
1. Why it comes at this point in the sequence
2. What it adds that the previous entry did not cover
3. Roughly how long it should take to get through
</task>

<output_format>
A numbered list of 5 to 8 entries (type of source, focus, rough time), ending with a note on how to know when the reader is ready to go beyond this list.
</output_format>