How much time should I spend studying for the GRE?

[Matthew Jones]

I just graduated from Western Connecticut State University with a degree in English Lit, and I'm hoping to begin some graduate school applications soon for a degree in Education (Secondary Education English, or Curriculum & Instruction, or whatever the equivalent by school is.) For most programs, I'm going to need to take the GRE, so I've purchased the "Cracking the GRE" book and plan on filling out everything in there. I'm just wondering how far down the road I should schedule the GRE for.

Will I be able to study this book for a month and perform well? I graduated with a fairly high GPA (3.86) and I'm trying to get into some top-50 schools, preferably with some sort of scholarship/financial aid, but I assume I'll need to perform well on the GRE to be considered. Should I place more emphasis on the verbal sections as opposed to the math, or are they all valued equally? How many graduate schools should I be applying to?