I'm using Heisig Remebering the Kanji combined with two Anki decks.

I'm doing this while studying Japanese conversation, vocabulary and grammar - separately.

Right now the two methods are beginning to overlap - and I'm seeing kanji that I know the meaning for (and how to write them) and when i know the corresponding japanese word in kana the two methods are reinforcing each other. 

When studying Kanji - I almost never have to write them when seeing the for the first time anymore (Heisig method), the only time I practice writing is when quizzing myself using my Anki deck about 30 minutes a day. 

It depends what your target is, if you are studying to pass the JLPT then just get the level specific books and it should be fine. But if you want to understand and improve your Japanese the start reading simple articles.

You can install " rikaikun " from Chrome web store onto ur browser. It helps with Kanjis and vocab as you hower ur mouse over particular words or kanji. 

NHK website is good place to start    http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/  

as article are small and not too much complicated vocabulary is used.

I have been using this method and it has worked for me.

I hope this helps.

kodansha's Kanji List

I've been using a book called Kanji Look and Learn and it contains 512 kanjis. I think it's a good book if you want to learn some basic kanjis and for beginners.

Well, this is just my opinion, don't take it personal, make a basic image of the kanji in your head and draw it in your head as well, of course, need to review what you've learned regularly. I've learned over 700 kanji in over 1 month (1 month and a half to be exact I suppose), those kanjis I've learned, many from N3, many from N2, and some N1, I just picked up the kanji I wanted to learn in my textbook and the game I played, but well, I'm pretty sure I know all N5 and N4 kanji.

Note that if you can "master" (master, not just remember) the word that uses the kanji you want to learn before learning it, you will likely to learn it really fast, or it'll be pretty hard to remember the kanji. It's like you tide the kanji with the word that has already existed in your long-term memory.