The Tao of Martha: My Year of LIVING, or Why I'm Never Getting All That Glitter Off of the Dog by Jen Lancaster

Most adult women fall into two classes: those who want to be Martha Stewart, and those who are horrified by that idea. Even Martha's daughter is in on the joke with "Whatever, Martha." But you have to admit that if you want to do something right (fold a fitted sheet, grow roses, organize the pantry, throw a baby shower), Martha's got the checklist and recommendations. So it's not surprising that when Jen Lancaster decided to make changes to run her household more efficiently, she turned to Martha Stewart's counsel.

Insane ill-trained animals, drawers and cupboards shoved full of disorganized crap, and a garden that barely grows even with professional supervision - these are the hallmarks of Lancaster's home. But she's also the chick you want to have cocktails with (or get invited to one of her parties) because she's always got a good story featuring her own ineptitude. I love her books precisely because she's so relatably messed up and funny.

In the course of a year Jen hilariously agrees with Martha, disagrees with Martha, skews very far from the mission and then comes back around again. Life happens in the meantime, and eventually she builds her own Tao of Martha (and Tao of Maisy, Jen's dog) based on determining what's overkill, what's appropriate, what's worth the time and trouble, and what actually makes life "a good thing."

And you'll get to enjoy the journey without spending a whole paycheck at The Container Store or making a gift box from an acorn!

The Truly Terribly Horrible Sweater ... That Grandma Knit by Debbie Macomber & Mary Lou Carney

For his birthday, Cameron's Grandma Susan made him a bright, colorful sweater with big buttons. That he will never, ever wear. So he spends a lot of time over the course of the year trying to hide it, get rid of it, ruin it, and otherwise ensure that he'll never be seen wearing it.

Until Grandma comes, and he finds out why the sweater is so special. Carter gets a wider view of the love and care that went into his birthday present, and maybe a wider view of the world.

Sometimes your gifts aren't received with the grace that was intended, and this is a cute book with a lovely ending. But the text is a bit awkward in places, and once I was even convinced that I must be missing a page because the transition was so abrupt. Overall, it's an interesting book, but could have used better editing.

Rolling Along by Nancy J. Martin

I'm always looking for new ideas and inspirations on quilting with pre-cut fabrics (those charms and strips that are so popular right now). This book contains all patterns that are "jelly roll friendly."

I was slightly disappointed with the massive "quilt 101" in the front of the book - it takes up nearly 1/3 of the pages. I thought it was too much - if a new quilter needs that much help, they can look to other quilting basics books for that info.

In all, I thought there were some cute ideas here. But there's only one pattern I'm tempted to make. Overall, I think there are better jelly roll books available.

Fuse It and Be Done! by Barbara Campbell & Yolanda Fundora

I'm always looking for fun, fast ways to get great results without hand stitching - so I'm already familiar with fusible products. And this book has some great, inspired ideas on projects to fuse, including a couple that I hadn't even considered before. Even if I don't make any of the projects exactly like they're listed, the book has opened a few doors and windows in my mind that may take me a new direction.

The best part of the book though is the dozen-or-so pages at the beginning that explains different types of fusible and different techniques for using it. Wonderful!

I also enjoyed the fact that all templates from the book are available on an enclosed CD. For those of you who do pursue projects as they're detailed, you'll enjoy the convenience of printing out your templates rather than photocopying or tracing.