I really like to use the books of Чубарова О.Э. called Шкатулочка and Шкатулка.
This is reading material that could be started right from the beginning.

I like The New Penguin too, but it seems to me developing too fast for a beginner/

Also there is a very good book called " Russian Complete Coarse Book" Living Language/ It consists of 40 lessons and sound tracks for each lesson, which is very important, especially if you study by yourself.

Good luck!

The New Penguin Russian Course: http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Penguin-Russian-Course/dp/0140120416

I've used several books and found this one to be the easiest when I was starting out.  There weren't a ton of exercises, but you can easily supplement the book with online exercises such as:

http://learnrussian.rt.com/lessons/

http://www.auburn.edu/~mitrege/russian/exercises/

I'm not sure if you are interested in a tutor, but I would recommend the following:

Tatiana: http://www.italki.com/teacher/1656773 She will give you a workbook and run you through exercises and homework each class time.  She will make sure you get the correct grammar and vocabulary.

Nastia: http://www.italki.com/teacher/972511 I take lessons with Nastia for speaking practice.  She will give me an article to read before class and then we will talk for the entire class time about the topic of the article.

Good luck with your Russian studies!

Удачи!

Hello! I think that practice is more important than grammar. See my videos on youtube. I just started)) Its free. I hope you like it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xvpcfDVmas
or visit my Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/gprusski
Thanks)
If you like please comment and share)))

Hello ! Is there any chance to find " The Oxford Russian Grammar and Verbs " on line, for free?