As xiaomai said, you're not going to really need to "work" out of your second book (I'll call it your theory book). The purpose of theory books is to become familiar with theory, so you can easily identify the figures in the music you're playing. There is no need to practice them out of context (save for scales and arpeggios, but you're not there yet).
You want books, start with the downloadable by Chuan C. Chang at
www.pianofundamentals.org. I believe he even has a section in there on choosing a teacher. They've said to look at the teacher's playing, but don't forget to look at their students! Go to a recital, and when you see consistent quality performance, that's the teacher you want. Also, ask if you can have a trial lesson. Of course, you'll be paying for it, so I don't see why they wouldn't give you one. Your teacher should be able to make obvious improvement in your skills at every lesson (after all, what are you paying them for?). Understand that these skills may not always be physical, but you should walk out of a lesson on most days feeling you understand the instrument better. A teacher should be able to show you the proper motions for a passage, they should be able to give you basic instruction in analysis, they should be able to diagnose your deficiencies and give you a solution, and they should be constantly working towards getting you to the point where you can practice without their help, so they can work on musical issues with you. They should give you practice tools, advice, and overall guidance. That is what a teacher is. Someone who knows more than the student and can effectively impart such knowledge to the student.
How much do I practice? Around two hours a day, but that's because I've been slacking off. Sunday I'll be back to college and then it's at least three hours a day, hopefully four with the repertoire I have to learn. The first half hour of practice is spent on technique, and, trust me, you don't want to know my routine. Other than that, there's really no more "routine" to it. It depends on where you are with the piece, what your goals are, and what you've done on the previous days.
I looked at the articles by marbeth, and I would advise you to exercise caution. The article on metronomes is particularly mortifying. She advocates the number one abuse of the device, gradually increasing speed. This is a no-no, and more than adequately explained in the Chang book. I agree with her love of rhythms, but there are eight variations, not four, and she doesn't seem to understand their true purpose, which is development of evenness in playing. (By the way, the variations are: dotted-eighth -- sixteenth, sixteenth -- dotted-eighth, eighth -- triplet sixteenths, triplet sixteenths -- eighth, sixteenth -- sixteenth -- eighth -- eighth, eighth -- sixteenth -- sixteenth -- eighth, eighth -- eighth -- sixteenth -- sixteenth, and, of course, straight. These are all the variations for quadruplets, it changes for triplets. Use your logic to figure those out.
) I'm also not fond of her fingering article, either. Apologies, jtc.
To answer your other questions: for you, one hour a day is fine. I would think you'd be able to work on three to four different pieces during that hour (15-20 min on a piece) and get much done. Feel free to split your work throughout the day. In fact, that's encouraged. You should try and practice daily, as your memory will fade fast without maintenance (in the beginning, at least).
Bottom line, read the Chang book (the part on practice, you don't need to read the math or tuning stuff) at least twice. Make sure to keep practicing as you do, though, you don't need to take a break to absorb his writings. Try them out immediately upon reading them, and read the sections that interest you (of course, you'll read the whole thing, but it doesn't have to be in order). He's onto it, and you might as well benefit from his research.
Topic: How to practice?