Mechanic

I think you should start with the CFAI books and see how it goes, after one or two weeks you will be able to tell whether you can study from them effectively or not. For many people Schweser will do the trick IMHO but do give the CFAI books a try, there is enough time. It would be ideal to study from the books, yes, but not necessarily indispensable in order to pass L1. I haven't sat for other levels so I can't speak for L2 and L3 though.