Generally what I do when I'm midding, is I generally start with an Amplifying Tome and build immediately into a Kage's Lucky Pick for 2 reasons. 1, it gives me extra gold generation (which is really nice since this is kind of an expensive build if you aren't REALLY good about last hits or are getting fed) and 2, like you said yourself, extra AP means extra survivability with your Bountiful Harvest and Kages gives a lot of AP for a relatively low gold cost, especially that early in the game. And, you can use it to build into Deathfire Grasp later in the game.
The other thing to mention is more aesthetic. If you put brackets, 2 going in either direction around items, skills, or characters, then you get a little picture that makes your guide a little easier to read.