This is one of the best books I have found for useful daily phrases. Toyo Keizai Shinposha, 1983. These books are NOT lists of technical terms. In addition, it contains stock phrases for many speaking situations. The Power Japanese series by Kodansha is up to 20-odd books.
All volumes are worthy of consultation.
This book contains much sense and nonsense about how the Japanese language works. At the other end of the spectrum is How to sound intelligent in Japanese by Charles DeWolf. It is a good academic vocabulary builder. I highly recommend this pocket-sized book. It treats the important topic of food within the cultural context and teaches much useful vocabulary.