Plano Reads: Book Selfies, Episode 8
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Plano Reads: Book Selfies, Episode 8

The libraries may be closed, but our love of reading and recommending never ends! 

Your Plano Public Library staff are virtually recommending our latest favorite reads, and below is the list of these titles, with additional read-alikes you can checkout on Overdrive and the Libby app. 

See all Book Selfies posts here.



Author Andrew Clements

Recommended by: Andrea at Haggard Library, available as eBooks and eAudiobooks

Genre: juvenile fiction and literature

Description from NoveList: Best known for his humorous and thought-provoking realistic portrayals of 5th and 6th grade school life, Andrew Clements wrote captivating books with believable characters to whom readers connect.

Andrew Clements Read-alikes

Books by Patrick Jennings
Books by Gordon Korman
Books by Lisa Graff


The Darkest Minds series by Alexandra Bracken

Recommended by: Amy B. at Haggard Library, available as eBooks

Genre: young adult science fiction

Description from Overdrive: When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that killed most of America’s children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

The Darkest Minds Read-alikes

Blood Red Road (Dustlands Series) by Moira Young
Starters (Starters Series) by Lissa Price
Delirium (Delirium Series) by Lauren Oliver


I Am a Cat 我是猫 by (Sun) Natsume Soseki

Recommended by: Amy C. at Davis Library, available as an eBook

Genre: science fiction, in Chinese

Description from Overdrive: The writing angle of “I am a cat” is very novel, from the perspective of a cat to observe the people and things around.

I Am a Cat Read-alikes

小坡的生日 by 老舍
时光便利店 by 李燕宁
拉萨的时间 by 央珍


Vicious series by V. E. Schwab

Recommended by: Tenille at Haggard Library, available as eBooks and eAudiobooks

Genre: fantasy fiction

Description from Overdrive: Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Vicious Read-alikes

Books by Holly Black
Books by Laini Taylor
Books by Kelley Armstrong


Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Recommended by: Abby at Schimelpfenig Library, available as an eBook

Genre: nature and science non-fiction

Description from Overdrive: Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings—asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass—offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices.

Braiding Sweetgrass Read-alikes

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf
The Botany of Desire: a Plant’s-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan

9 thoughts on “Plano Reads: Book Selfies, Episode 8

  1. An amazing book I checked out from Plano libraries is Educated by Tara Westover. It’s an autobiographical account of Westover growing up in an Orthodox Mormon household in the Utah mountains in an abusive family with a bipolar father. She describes the danger she is out through and how education became an escape from her toxic family dynamic and how she eventually chose her life and education over them. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

  2. “The Darkest Minds” is definitely a book that has caught my attention! In the past, I have read the Delirium series, which seems to share some of the same concepts as “The Darkest Minds,” and I absolutely loved it!

    Personally, I would recommend the Shatter Me series. Both protagonists are born with special powers and sent to “rehabilitation” centers or asylums and are deemed as “monsters” by the general people. Although it is a little dark, I highly recommend it!

  3. The Darkest Minds seems like an interesting book that I’ll definitely make sure to check out when I get a chance.

    I recommend any book from the Blackthorn Key series. The whole series is centered around a boy in the 1660s, around the time of the Black Plague. He’s an apothecary’s apprentice and uses his abilities as an apothecary and great skill at solving riddleamazing riddle solving skills to save Europe many times. If you enjoy historical fiction, this series is amazing.

  4. I recommend reading the book “Code Talker” by Joseph Bruchac which is a historical fiction books that discusses the life of a Navajo Indian named Ned Begay who was recruited by the Marines to become a Code Talker and send messages across using his native language during World War II. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction or even non fiction books that cover World War II as a general theme.

  5. To those who enjoy nonfiction novels, I would certainly recommend the book “The Everything Store” by Brad Stone which details Jeff Bezos’ rise to success through innovation and persistence. The novel brilliantly explains the steps Bezos took to create the foundation of his company and to grow it into the “Amazon” it is known as today. Overall, it is truly an amazing book for those who wish to have a better understanding of how Bezos’ company came to be!

  6. The Darkest minds was a fabulous book. I recommend reading Warcross by Marie Lu, another great Sci-Fi novel from the Plano Public Library.

  7. The “Darkest Minds” series by Alexandra Bracken was an amazing book, I love these types of
    Sci-Fi/Adventure novels, this is one book to really keep you on your toes! If i may recommend another similar in style, it would be the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. While this is more of a dystopian novel, I find the writing styles and character development has some striking similarities in both “Darkest Minds” and “The Hunger Games”.

  8. The Darkest Minds is such a gripping story. I absolutely love how well it’s written.

  9. Thank you all for your recommendations! I definitely enjoyed reading Andrew Clements’ books when I was younger and I would strongly recommend it to all you young readers out there!

    One of my personal favorite books I got from the Plano Public Library was “Legend” by Marie Lu. The story takes place in an alternate future, where North America has split into two warring nations. The story is told from the viewpoints of fifteen-year-olds Day, a famous criminal, and prodigy June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him, who eventually discover that they have a common enemy. Overall, this novel is a great read for all science fiction and dystopian society lovers!

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