Alternatively, you can set a crock pot out and let it *start* cooking mid-day, so that it's ready before you get home. I don't have a timer on mine, but I use a cheap plug-in timer for those occasions when I need it (which isn't too often, I grant you).

My favorite crock-pot cook book is Slow Cooker Revolution by America's Test Kitchen. No inundation with cream of yuck soup, which is my primary complaint with most crock pot recipes. One down side is that there is a decent amount of prep with many of the recipes, including end prep once the food is done cooking. The other primary down side is that some of the recipes have exotic ingredients that I have trouble finding (and I live too far away from a Whole Foods Market - or as it is known at our house, "Whole Paycheck Market").