Arts & Crafts

I’m quite mad for Ms. Sedaris and all of her unique and fabulous cooking and craft ideas. Her last book, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, was a hilarious and helpful guide to entertaining; her newest showcases her belief that crafting is one of life’s more pleasurable and constructive leisure activities (no doubt!). Filled to the brim with awesome, low-cost projects like crab-claw roach clips and crepe-paper moccasins (yes, they sound fake but they are, in fact, not), Simple Times will blow you away with its unending creativity. It has often been said that ugly people craft and attractive people have sex. In her new book, Sedaris sets the record straight. If there’s a cooler, foxier person on the planet, I don’t know who she is. —S.B.

This beautiful new book features 26 large prints from Dave Eggers’ exhibition at Electric Works Gallery in San Francisco. Eggers, the founder of McSweeney’s and the author of many books, including A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, has created simple animal drawings that are absurd, confusing, and hilarious and lay somewhere on the line between cartoon and fine art, jokes and profound artistic and religious commentary. If you feel drawn to the aesthetics of McSweeney’s or if you could simply use a good laugh, take a look through this book. —Ali

I’ve been a long-time fan of Maira Kalman’s artwork, but my admiration for her went through the roof when I saw her “And the Pursuit of Happiness” series (now presented in this book) unfold last year via the New York Times. Energized and inspired by the 2008 elections, on inauguration day Kalman traveled to Washington, D.C., launching a yearlong investigation of democracy and how it works. From the Lincoln Memorial to the inner workings of a Bronx middle-school student council to great American women in the National Portrait Gallery, Kalman recounts her journey using her trademark colorful illustrations and moving text, providing a powerful history lesson and a reminder of the potential our future holds. —S.B.

Stoller has finally continued, after a long break, her best-selling series of knitting books. In this new addition, she shows you how to take your craft to the next level through advanced techniques such as intarsia, fair isle, cables, steeking, and designing your own patterns. Stoller continues to explain these concepts with ease and gives you great patterns, such as the Frilly Frilly Scarf, with which to perfect your skills. —Saraphine