I'm looking to expand my library of of grammar resources to provide me with enough to go through 2級 through 1級. I have seen many books being mentioned like 完全マスター, 日本語総まとめ問題集, and so on.

Problem is that there are about a million 完全マスター books on amazon, and I'm not sure which one peoplare talking about. I also don't know where there are overlaps between other resources and the like.

I currently just have "A Dictionary of Basic/Intermediate Japanese Grammar" which is amazing for looking up patterns, but I think I would also like something more lesson-based that would be less dry than the Dictionary books all the way through.

Do you guys have any recommendations on what sets of books are considered to be really helpful? Links on amazon would be really really helpful too, since every book seems to come in several editions, versions, etc

I think you would need two 完全マスター文法 books to cover grammar right after 3JLPT to 1JLPT.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/完全マスター2級-日本語能力試験...729&sr=1-4

http://www.amazon.co.jp/完全マスター1級-日本語能力試験...pd_sim_b_4

I prefer (though I am new to this book) どんな時どうつかう日本語. You will probably want the workbook as well

http://www.amazon.co.jp/どんな時どう使う-日本語表現文型...826&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.co.jp/どんな時どう使う日本語表現文型5...pd_sim_b_2

There's also another grammar dictionary: 日本語文型辞典. I've never used it personally.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/日本語文型辞典-グループジャマシ...pd_sim_b_5


My reccomendation, and take this with a spoonful of salt, is to work your way though どんな時どうつかう日本語 then work you way through 完全マスター文法. 完全 is better for reviewing and drilling but the other book is more "lesson-based".

頑張ってください。

I suspect that to some extent any book which is purely grammar focussed will be closer to reference than to a lesson-based format. If you really want lesson-format stuff you might also try looking at intermediate-level textbooks.

日本語文型辞典 is good (it covers a much wider range of points than the D*JG but in somewhat less detail), but it is definitely a dictionary/reference book.

I agree with gyuujuice that 完全マスター is best reserved for revision, review and drilling.

Excellent, thanks guys, just the info I was looking for

どういたしまして。
Just doing my part contributing what I can to this awesome site.

Disclaimer: I haven't taken any JLPT, so I don't know how effective my learning strategy really is, but I'm using both どんな時どうつかう日本語 and the Intermediate and Advanced Grammar Dictionaries mentioned here. There's a shared Anki deck with all the sentences from the latter.

The examples in どんな時どうつかう日本語 are usually harder, but the nuances aren't always clear to me. So I read both, and add the relevant sentences from the Dictionary decks to my SRS load, including a short commentary. Every once in a while something from どんな時どうつかう日本語 isn't covered in the Dics, and I only put those expressions and sentences into the deck.

(And yes, there are some differences and disagreements between the books, but I suspect they are not crucial. Grammar is always a relative thing, no matter what the books say).