I try to read newspapers, even if I only get half of it, because I want to get used to the structure of the sentences. For vocabulary I like reading supermarket leaflets or browse websites of shops with furniture and electrical appliances.

Well I found german bit more technical in grammar than english, so I've started with grammar and found it quite useful

Hi Claire, at German A1 level, I just couldn't read newspapers and now at B1 I still have trouble. I find the language quite complicated. I borrow my daughter's Enid Blyton books in German, or 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' - Gregs Tagebuch. I read a page or two and write down little sentences I don't understand in a notebook and translate them into English. Have you checked out 'Deutsch für Euch' on Youtube? It's done by a native German speaker who explains German grammar in a really easy to understand way. Also I've recently discovered 'FluentU' and 'Yabla'. Both are quite similar and teach language with videos. You can choose your level and then underneath the video are subtitles in German and your language. You can watch a few videos for free, then you pay a subscription to access the rest. I'm using Yabla for Italian and I'm finding it really useful.