The books, not that godawful show.

I finished the new one the other day. I can't wait for the next. I was sorry to see the Lasciel arc close, though.

A friend in one of my classes is always reading them and telling me how good they are. What exactly are they about?

SO glad you asked.

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is a private investigator who is listed in the Chicago phone book under "Wizards". He's exceedingly talented at evocation, which is blowing shit up. He's also very skilled at thaumaturgy, which is harder to explain, but it's basically using magic on representations of something in order to cause effects on the real thing. What he's not so good at is fine control of his magic.

He has a very strong sense of right and wrong, and can turn really fucking scary if something pisses him off. He develops some real issues over the course of the series. However, throughout it all, he is very, very funny and sarcastic, even in the face of torture and imminent death.

The series describes in great detail an entire magical community and underworld totally unknown to almost all normal humans. Vampires, Fairies, undead, all play a part. In the later books, there's a full scale war between the wizards and the vampire courts, which Harry technically started by blowing up a building in a fit of rage.

The TV show is terrible compared to the novels, so don't watch that trying to get an idea of what the books are like.