Friday… um, Monday Favorites

Friday… um, Monday Favorites

We forgot to write a Friday Favorites post last week, but there’s a few things we’re loving this week that we wanted to share on this lazy three-day weekend. Seriously, shouldn’t every weekend be three days?

Kerry’s favorites:

1. Sister Fidelma mysteries by Peter Tremayne
My mother was a librarian and always had the best book suggestions. Every time I was stuck for something to read, she’d give me something I’d never heard of that would always be so perfect. Years ago she suggested I start reading the Sister Fidelma mysteries and I was hooked. After she passed away I got out of the habit of reading them but started again a couple of weeks ago on vacation. I’ve now read two books in the last two weeks and downloaded a third from the iBooks store yesterday. Sister Fidelma is a nun in Ancient Ireland who just happens to also be a lawyer and a detective and a solver of murder mysteries. I love that they aren’t just good mysteries, but I learn a ton about Irish history and the history of the church, which I’m totally fascinated with. These books combine everything I love: a good mystery that isn’t too scary or violent, history, Ireland, and nuns! (nun fiction!!!) I’m currently reading Behold a Pale Horse, but start with Absolution by Murder.

2. Desktop wallpaper by Max Wanger for Designlovefest
I just downloaded this new desktop wallpaper yesterday, and my laptop looks so beautifully beachy… Sigh, I want to go to the beach. Download this (and lots of other cute wallpapers) here.

Andy’s favorites:

1. I’ve been playing this game that I downloaded called Guacamelee. It’s an old-school side scroller that reminds me of Metroid. It proves something that I think a lot of new video games have forgotten: good gameplay trumps amazing graphics. Not that the graphics aren’t good. The game is colorful and fluid, and never hiccups. It’s also got really clever writing and incredibly tight gameplay. If you are a fan of games like Castlevania, Metroid, or any of those old side scrolling NES games, Guacamelee is worth checking out.

2. Iron Man 3! We saw Iron Man on Friday. When the first Iron Man movie came out, I loved it. It was the perfect blend of comic book movie meets the real world. It had all the comic book elements that I love, but it also wasn’t too far fetched that it couldn’t happen any day. And Robert Downey, Jr. is the perfect Tony Stark. Iron Man 2 wasn’t as good for me, it didn’t really bring anything new to the table. Iron Man 3, I give a solid B+. It had some failures (there was a long stretch of little action; it loses some of its realism), but overall it was much better than 2. My big complaint is, if you’re looking forward to seeing Tony kick butt in a brand new, super awesome Iron Man suit, prepare to be disappointed. There is a new suit, and it is cool, but most of this movie is a personal journey about Tony. There’s also one (or five) too many jokes. Sometimes they seemed forced. But really, it was entertaining, and well worth it.