I would actually start with a general rule of thumb for any topic: Don't strive to learn the content, strive to want to learn the content. The learning will often happen on its own.
Google and Wikipedia can give you all the Chemistry facts you could ever need. In fact, more than you could ever need. If all you do is learn facts, you'll eventually be outstripped by those who played on the playground, and then asked Google.
The true learning comes from being able to integrate those facts with real life, and that is a skill you develop for yourself. There's no textbook to teach it. Once you find uses for the chemistry facts you learn, you'll suddenly find they're a WHOLE lot easier to learn. Those who played on the playground will suddenly be awed by how easily you digest information and how quickly you turn it into application.
The path is different for every person. However, I want to give a shout out to Dave PhD's answer of "Get a chemistry set and have fun with it." If there is one "best path" to learn Chemistry, that's it. Chemistry is so much more interesting when you come across a problem in life such as "how do I get gum off my shoe," and find that not only do you know enough about the chemical properties of the latex in the gum to understand why it is so {bleepity-bleep} sticky, but you happen to have the chemicals on hand to break it down because you were using them in a cute color-changing experiment the other night!
In an ideal world, one day you'd realize you need a chemical to solve some cool problem, but you don't have it. In a flash of inspiration, you realize that you can do a chemical reaction with stuff you do have to make the chemical you don't. All you need is some starch to complete the reaction. Mom doesn't have starch on hand? Saltine crackers will do nicely, I just have to wash the salt off of it so that the salt doesn't interact. Once everything connects in your mind, you'll find memorizing ionization energies is a breeze because you know that, one day, you'll use that information!