Kostka and Payne is not usually recommended. Knowledgeable experts tend to prefer texts by Laitz, or Aldwell (previously, Aldwell & Schachter). Bear in mind though that the latter authors do require some 'intellectual' effort, but this will hopefully pay off in understanding. Kostka and Payne is the sort of textbook that's preferred by instructors at a music dept, where the students don't actually care that much about theory - it tends to emphasize unhelpful trivia, not what's most relevant.
I taught music theory for 8 years, and we used Laitz. It's a solid textbook. The book I learned from myself was Walter Piston (!) which is extremely old-fashioned, but unlike Laitz, Piston worked from a defined 'canon' of classical music within which his theory was consistent. Laitz tries to incorporate many different kinds of music, and then he often reaches quite simplistic conclusions. Kostka and Payne is absolutely fine, though, if you want to know 'enough' and the pedagogical style is excellent.
My impression was that Kostka and Payne is fairly light going, with lots of examples of how the concepts are used in actual (classical) music. There is an accompanying workbook, and as far as learning went that was where the real action is.
Don't know the other books you mentioned; perhaps they are better still.
