Reddit reviews Japanese Verbs: Saying What You Mean

I had a similar problem with the "Japanese for Busy People" series, which I found to be dead boring.

When I was a complete beginner, I found this book to be really useful and interesting: https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Verbs-Saying-What-Mean/dp/4938236923/

Japanese verbs convey even more information than verbs in English, so by focusing mostly on the verbs (though the book also goes over some particles), you really learn a lot.

I would supplement that book with this dictionary of Japanese particles: https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Japanese-Particles-Sue-Kawashima/dp/156836542X/

And possible the "Japanese the Manga Way" program if you want additional practice with dialogues and vocab.

When you finish the verb book I linked you to, I would recommend jumping off the deep end and start consuming Japanese music, movies/dramas/anime, and reading stuff as soon as possible, looking up any words you don't know in a dictionary. It will be difficult and overwhelming at first, but

1. You will learn quickly, and
   
   
2. Grammar-wise, you will have had a very good start if you use the book I recommended.
   
   I see little reason to be studying fake, made-up dialogue when you get to an intermediate level. Our ultimate goal is to learn real Japanese, so I'm a firm believer in immersion sooner rather than later.
   
   I hope that helps.