Why are classics so hard to get here?  i get them for my daughter who teaches HS English.  There are a few every year she asks for.  She reads them over the summer to develop her curriculum.

For next year she wants '1984' and 'Brave New World'.  There are literally dozens of versions for each (can't use young reader versions), but none available though many had 0 wishers until I added them to my WL.  Guess I will look at FOL bookstore.

My guess is that many are likely well used in teaching and people don't consider them postable.

I've had the same complaint. It seems the primary reading material here is Harlequin romance.

I guess it depends on the authors you search for. I just went into the Book Browser, did a search for Steinbeck, Jack London and Kipling and got pages of their books which are posted here.

And, while there is certainly a lot of Harlequin romance posted her, that genre isn't the bulk of it. I've received over 1,540 books since I joined in late 2010 and none of that was romance.

When I started here at PBS I posted my books from college here & was able to swap them all successfully over time.  English major so I had dozens of classic paperbacks I used in college level courses, many of those were somewhat obscure though I did have a few from high school literature classes.

I don't know if this is an option in most classes, but I would think so: almost everything considered a classic is free on the internet if you can work with a digital copy. That would be the easiest way to get started reading while you wait to get a paperback edition. You can find the text for most classics simply by typing the title into your browser search. Since most of these standards used in the classroom have been published so many times I don't think teachers are saying 'page xyz' but rather 'chapter xzy' so they can make references consistently. If a student needs to mark up or make personal notes in a digital copy it's fairly easy to do so. 

Thanks for the suggestion, Linda.  I will have to ask Ana why she hasn't considered using her ipad mini for reading classics.

Dang! I just posted Signet Publication of 1984...it's waiting for the member to accept...if they don't and it goes back on my list...you can have it. Does she have Amazon Kindle? with Kindle Unlimited it's free.  Scour yard sales...now that school is almost over for some..people will be ridding themselves of unwanted books. Thrift stores! When I lived in MD...(DC area) I had a plethora of Library Sales,Thrift and Used book stores to get books for the kids. Unless the teacher specifically said Penguin version vs the Rooster or Signet Publication. 

Jeanne, does your daughter want them for herself or she needs multiple copies for her students?

HEY!  I resemble your remark about Harlequin Romances...  I only have 500 on my book shelf. ;-)

Right now she just needs a copy for herself.  

In April I got multiple copies here of a book for her elective course Film and Literature.  They read a book that has been made into a film, then watch the film and do some comparison studies.  They read 'Hunger Games' for their last book of the semester.

Just got a new list of classics to search for as DD was promoted to Dept Chair and will now be teaching 12 grade English classes instead of 9th grade.

once again, the first search attempt for several of the 6 classics I now have to get for my daughter turned up dozens of options, all unavailable.  If I add the title and author's name and clear the 'key words' ,  I find editions that are available.......don't understand why if you put in the title under search, the function places that into the 'key words' and doesn't find the copies that are actually available.

When you do a search you can select "All books"; "Posted books"; "Unposted books"; "Wish List books" or "PBS Market books". Selecting "Posted Books" will pull up books with copies available.

I find this discussion interesting since I have a shelf of classics, some of which I've read and others that I am planning to read.  I post good quality books when I finish them but requests seem few and far between so they often go into a mini library hoping someone will find them interesting.  If they are not on my shelf or available here, I turn to the library for a read.

success...... 2 more I needed got donated to the FOL bookstore today!  With someone here sending me Pride and Prejudice, that means I have all 6 on the way now!  Thanks, everyone, for helping me track these down!

Jeanne, 

There is a website called ARCHIVE DOT ORG which has books in various formats available for either viewing online or downloading.for free. This includes Audio Books. This also includes many of the Classics.. As well as old time magazines and comic books as well as Manga books (Japanese Comics).

These are books which are in the Public Domain - meaning they have no current copyrights (for various reasons). I have downloaded over 1,000 and am currently reading them one at a time on the large screen monitor. 

I would highly recommend you take a look and see if there is anything you might like to either read online or download as a PDF (etc). You do not have to become a member or sign-up or anything unless you wanna'.

Danny N (Alameda) - Havelock NC

Back to searching for a bunch of copies for daughter's senior class......this time 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'.  Though there are dozens of versions, only one book was available to order.

If they don't need a certain edition, I found three copies posted as well as some audio versions.

The books below were posted with the shorter isbn but came up in my quick search.

http://www.paperbackswap.com/Picture-Dorian-Gray-Oscar-Wildes/book/380433/

http://www.paperbackswap.com/Picture-Dorian-Gray-Oscar-Wilde/book/289712/

http://www.paperbackswap.com/Great-Illustrated-Classics-Oscar-Wilde/book/327936/

Thank you, I did not see the shorter isbn ones in my search.

At the small thrift store were I volunteer, we have an entire bookcase devoted to the classics, both adult and children's.  When the local FOL hold its sale, after Saturday and Sunday the two large Classic tables are all but cleared out.  Whereas, over the next three days they keep putting out more books on the other tables.