Jim Butcher, who is he and why should you care?

Do you like urban fantasy? Humor? Then you'll love Jim. I got hooked on Jim about five years ago when I started reading to my children at breakfast. No, not little kids but teenagers. Go ahead, laugh. I swear I did do this and it wasn't to torture them. I remember a similar experience I had with my mother when she sat my brother, sister and I around the table to read the hobbit and some stupid book on self-esteem, which to this day, I still roll my eyes when I think about it. But what I remember most about that time, was spending it with my family and doing something that required listening and interaction with each other. This round table reading started my love of not only writing but reading.

So, when I noticed my children were living on the video games and watching television way too much, I realized my family had no interaction and it was time to introduce them to the round table. Time was going by too fast and I wanted an hour with them before we went our separate ways for the day. An hour every morning to connect with my children and hopefully give them what I got from my mother, a love of reading and memories I'd taken into adulthood.

So, every morning I made them breakfast and for two years, I read to them before school. We read everything. King Kong, 1776, Christine and Dead Beat. Though you'd think I was torturing them at the time, they later told me they enjoyed the stories and the one novel that really got their attention was Jim's. It's quite an accomplishment to snag a teenager's attention for a micro-second let alone an hour every morning for a month. With all the high tech gadgets that could lure them away, they always came to breakfast to hear what would happen to Harry next. They weren't the only ones. I was hooked from the first paragraph. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go to the book store, pick up Jim Butcher's Dead beat and open to the first page. If you don't walk out with a novel or two of his, I'll be surprised.

That being said, Jim's got a new book out this month and in celebration of Chicago's finest paranormal gumshoe I bring you, 12 Reasons to read Jim Butcher.
                                  1. Storm Front

2. Fool Moon











3. Grave Peril











4. Summer Knight












5. Death Masks











6. Blood Rites











7. Dead Beat











8. Proven Guilty











9. White Night











10. Small Favor











11. Turn Coat











12. Changes
The graphics on the cover tell us this has something to do with the Mayan. What’s not to love. If you haven’t read the Dresden Files, I highly recommend you give them a try. Harry Dresden’s tongue and cheek humor is awesome and Jim's world building is fantastic.

Congrats on your latest release, Jim. Can’t wait to get my copy.

D.L. Jackson