Living French: A Grammar-Based Course [With CD (Audio)]

Whenever one is standing in front of rows and rows of French books [or looking at page after page online], picking one out is really daunting. I made the slightly unsure purchase of Living French just under a month ago to help me improve things and actually get a real foundation, since I hadn't listened that much in class. I would absolutely recommend this book, it is so helpful, very clear, and has everything. Each lesson has several pages of information, examples & upcoming vocab before then having a reading passage relevant to the lesson's aim, then questions on the passage, and usually 2-3 grammar exercises, and then a short set of translations followed by a longer passage to translate [from English into French] and finally an area where you can write your own passage about the stuff from the lesson. I have found is quite helpful and, surprisingly, not boring.