1. Three to six months of sincere preperation.
2. Read PMBOK twice, Rita Mulcahy twice.
3. Heard Cornelius Fitchner twice along with PMBOK.
4. Got to know about Head First pretty late...nevertheless read once.
5. Lots of Practice Exams and intense research in Web.
Conclusion:
My friend & I appeared exam together. She passed, I failed. We discussed all that we could remember after exam and realised I would have failed by margin. With out wasting time, prayed and appeared again after 10 days. Now I knew where to concentrate. So

Read Kim's book thrice and PMBOK twice and thats it. Passed. Thank GOD.Now that does not mean the first round of prep was wrong. It wasnt a waste, it added my knowledge cos as I said, I lost the first chance marginaly.

The Golden Rule.Follow PMBOK in detail and other books only to give you the picture easier and clearer.