When I started I was completely new to Linux and the command line. Everything I do today is rooted in the foundation that I learned by doing a close read of the book. The book requires no coding, just command-line, but soon after my first and second reads of the book I began to automate the build process that took me down the path of understanding how distros are put together.
I've only read the book end-to-end once or twice (I think that's all that is needed), but I've done hundreds of builds. Make no mistake: The book is difficult to get through. It requires trial and error as well as a close read of the book to understand why the build is done in the way that it is, which should be explained thoroughly, but if it isn't I'm sure the editors want to hear about the difficulty you are having. There are also bound to be problems bootstrapping from your <insert_favorite_distro>. That's always been a challenge and it's part of the build methodology that LFS uses to create a stable foundation to build a proper system (which relates to the efforts today regarding bit identical reproducible builds).