Learning Russian

My summer project is to learn a bit of Russian. Could you guys direct me to some good guides and books to help me begin? Also, any tips to help me stray from making mistakes would be appreciated. I'm looking to read and write rather than be extremely proficient at conversation if that means anything.

I especially need a good introductory book, as I'll be leaving for a trip in a few days and I hope to study during it.

OP here.

>>6
Thanks, this whole course should definitely help!

>>7
Interesting you say that, I literally just found out about iichan.ru a few minutes ago. I'll probably try reading the posts, learning vocab (not without a dictionary by my side of course), and communicating. Right now I'm trying to fluently read Russian words and learn grammar so I'll just have vocab as a read-and-learn thing.