I wish I could understand Japanese

Perhaps you're right. Although I never had luck with my texts.

At the higher levels of my Chinese School, we were learning about Leo Tolstoy in our Texts, and the names of his books in Chinese... Why on Earth do we need to know that...?

lol'd.
The textbook I use is pretty nice, and even comes with dialogue samples for better understanding. They use examples that feature Mary, the American student in Japan majoring in Japanese, and her daily endeavors. So it provides examples that are easily used in every day life.