I've been reading through this forum and I truly feel bad when I read about people failing, so I thought I'd share my experiences, which differ from a lot of the advice given on this forum.  Now, be aware that this worked for me, but it might not work for you, so just do what feels right.

1. Don't read PMBOK cover to cover first!  This is some advice that a PMP-certified friend gave me,  Make it the second book you read.

2. Read Rita's book first, and emerse yourself in it.  I spent 3 weeks, 2-3 hours per night and even more on weekends, going through every word in every chapter, and I took over 100 pages of notes.  When I was done, then I quickly went through PMBOK, and it made a lot more sense.

3. Do the mini-exams in Rita's book after going through each chapter.  Make copies of her score sheet and use it instead of writing in the book.  As you are going through the mini-exam, mark the questions you aren't sure of.  When you are done, make a list of the question numbers that you marked AND the question numbers you got wrong (this was about 40% of the questions for me).  When you are done with the book, go back and retake the exams, but ONLY answer the questions you marked or got wrong the first time.

4. Do a Google Search and you'll come up with a ton of practice questions and exams.

My Summary: I got my 35 PDU's last year, and then did nothing for a while.  I started studying hard 6 weeks before the test, and I went through Rita's book cover-to-cover.  After her book I quickly went thru PMBOK, focusing on the areas I had trouble on.  The last 4 days before the exam ALL I did were practice exams, including retaking Rita's exams, and each time I got a question wrong I would research it in Rita's book AND PMBOK to make sure I knew why I got it wrong.  I took the exam 3 days ago, and it took me 3 hours to finish all the Q's, and I marked about 70 of the 200 questions.  I took another half hour to review those, changed about 5 answers, and then submited my answers.  I passed, Proficient in Initiation and Planning, Moderately Proficient in Executing, M&C, and Closing.  And believe me, I am no genius.

The most important thing about the exam is reading the questions carefully, because they are ALWAYS trying to trick you.  I read each question twice, and very slowly, to make sure I knew what they were asking.  It's tough, but not impossible.

My Conclusion: Don't buy too many books, take too many courses, or spend several months studying insane amounts of time for this test, because you are setting yourself up for failure.  There's just way too much information to internalize for most people, so use Rita's book as your guide and let her direct your focus to what's really important.  For example, in her book she talks about how up to 70 questions are based on her big chart, and that's a HUGE portion of the test, so if you really do memorize it, you've already more than half-way to passing the test, even without looking at PMBOK yet!

There really is no right or wrong way to prepare for the PMP exam, so the words above are just my humble opinions.  I just thought perhaps a different point of view might help someone through this difficult process, so good luck everyone!