I must stop reading these British/Irish children's ghost stories. ?áThey just don't do anything for me. ?áIf I were stranded w/out books I wouldn't make a nuisance of myself, but would either write something original, or try to write from memory one of my favorite stories, or ask the neighbors (minister? teacher? spinster lady?) if they had any books I could borrow. ?áI liked the Smollets, but they were cardboard characters, each of the eight fit a stereotype. ?áEven the main characters needed fleshing out. ?áSorry, I just find nothing particularly engaging in these books.

trying to think of the type I mean, can only come up with these at the moment, though I liked them a bit better because the time-travel element in each was more significant (here it was vaguely hinted at, is all...)

Tom's Midnight Garden
The Ghosts, by A. Barber ( )

I lent this book to a friend of mine -- well, to her daughter, but of course my friend read it as well. The main character of this novel is a reading fiend who likes to draw up mental lists of her favorite books. My friend was amazed at how many of these books she'd never even heard of, let alone read.

Quite aside from being an excellent source of titles to look out for, this is a terrific story, alternately funny and touching. ( )

I chanced upon a battered copy of this in donations. A wonderful story. I could really relate. Imagine a vacation with NO books. Horrifying. A good ghost story, reminded me of Ruth M Arthur's books. I want to read the books that were left on Jane's bedside table. ( )

A young girl who loves to read goes on vacation to a small town where there are no books and finds that she has switched her suitcase of books with her father's. Some unknown person leaves books by her bed each night, who ends up being a ghost named Mary. ( )