Stuff I've been reading

I've been reading some pretty good stuff lately, nothing particularly heavy. Or even remotely heavy. Hey, I'm busy!
I've finished the first three books in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher and am currently reading the fourth, Summer Knight. The books are great! Butcher has a fertile imagination, fills up his books with enough detail and variety to keep the series interesting. So far, he also has not gone the way of Laurel K. Hamilton and keeps sex scenes short and sweet. The emotional hand-wringing when innocents are hurt or killed is also, mercifully kept to a minimum. (I understand it lends some depth to the characters when authors do this, but I happen to be reading for entertainment, here. Also, if Indiana Jones had gotten into snits whenever there was a little collateral damage, where would he have been?) So far, Harry has not taken any risks that are too ludicrous, ignored help that was too obvious, or shown too egregious an inability to learn from his mistakes. Though a scene where he gets the crap kicked out of him until he speaks politely would be entertaining. Honestly, he gets nearly killed once every year or so, you'd think he'd develop some tact. Oh well, I guess Jim Butcher needs keep the plot a-movin' along. After all, when writing scene after scene about fighting demons, werewolves (excuse me, loup-garous), soul-eating ghosts, ghouls and vampires, he might be excused for thinking that a normal person simply wouldn't be up to the job. So Harry has an inflated sense of honor, feels overresponsible, overprotects and underinforms people, feels excessively guilty, is extremely tenacious, hotheaded, impulsive, and rude. He's the fly in everyone's ointment, a bad date but a great lay, and a big dork. From reading Butcher's dedications I believe that roleplaying is near and dear to his heart, and roleplayers feature prominently in minor roles throughout the series.