I once bought a knitting book that rated how difficult the patterns were based on how many beers you could have and still possibly follow the pattern, lol. I thought that was a funny way of doing it.
One of my favorite knitting book(s) are the Stitch n' Bitch books. Their patterns are fun and their instructions are helpful. They have a crochet one called "The Happy Hooker," lol, which I can actually follow even though I'm primarily a knitter.
Enjoy your new books!!