Of all the MN Reads Reviewers we have, Jessica Frier’s journey to our humble website is probably the best one so far. Last week I got an e-mail from LeAnn about a cool woman she bonded with in the SciFi section of Half Price Books. LeAnn said Jessica would be great if we’re still looking for a reviewer who was interested in SciFi and Fantasy.

And here’s her answers to the 6 questions we always ask.

What book(s) are you currently reading?
I'm currently working my way through Moral Animal by Robert Wright and I just finished In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. Grendel and The Handmaid’s Tale are sitting on my coffee table waiting to be devoured.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character? Who?
Oh, where to start! The first crush I can recall was John Brooke in Little Women when I read it in high school. I forced myself to read Gone with the Wind in middle school and that led to a very small infatuation with Rhett Butler. I'll even admit to having a crush on James Harthouse from Hard Times (Dickens). Most recently, I had a torrid 12-book affair with Henry Dresden of the Dresden Files and Tavi from the Codex Allera Series. No, not at the same time! I'm not that big of a harlot. I jumped back and forth between them in a two month period? Chaste is my middle name.

If your favorite author came to Minnesota, who would it be and what bar would you take him/her to?
I would take Ernest Hemingway to a dark, seedy bar where we would make up stories about the people around us while drinking whiskey on the rocks. Or I would have dinner at a nice Italian place with Dr. Burt Erhman and discuss religious history until the wee hours of the morning.

What was your first favorite book?
I loved, loved Dr. Seuss's The Lorax and all this other books when I was little (and still do) but I was obsessed for a time with The Monster at the End of this Book with Grover from Seseme Street. I forced my mother to climb into the attic to get it for me when I was pregnant so I could read it to my tummy and I still have it. I have been an avid reader from a young age, but the first book to really have a profound impact on me was The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway.

Let’s say Fahrenheit 451 comes to life, which book would you become in order to save it from annihilation?
Dante's Divine Comedy, perhaps? Maybe I'd become Medea or The Oddyssey. Okay, I would have to say I'd become The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway because I know the impact a piece of work like that can have on a person.

What is one book you haven’t read but want to read before you die?
I've always wanted to get my hands on the book Children and Household Tales by the Brothers Grimm. And I've heard so much about The War of the Worlds that I think I should read it one of these days.