V Puti: Russian Grammar in Context

This is a great tool to help you learn Russian, and is even more helpful when used in conjunction with the workbook that goes along with it. After reading this book (and doing the workbook excercises) you will have a fairly good ability to communicate in Russian about common subjects. A good thing about this book is that its author, Olga Kagan, (who I studied under at UCLA) adheres to the philosophy that learning a language shouldn't be done through mere translation (this-English-word=that-Russian-word), but should be approached by taking the words in context and by seeing how Russian phrases/words are used, and not just what they mean. The only thing lacking from this book is that there aren't enough oral exercises, but overall, if you already know basic Russian and want to move to the next level, this is an excellent way to do it.