Fletcher Books

This is a great little pocket reference book for artists of all levels. It is just a great review to trigger your memory of how to paint many types of everyday things in landscaping. The companion book of Flowers is excellent also.

This is a great little power packed book. she shows you the steps while allowing you to paint your own way. she gives great information, small book, big information. a must if you are new to painting landscapes and need a jump start.

This is a marvelous little book. For someone who wants to learn water color painting specifically to paint landscapes, as I do, this book lays it all out simply and in enough detail to walk the novice artist through almost every natural scene one would want to paint. The instructions are step by step and clear,as are the illustrations. I love this book and highly recommend it.

The new 1998 edition of Fletcher and Rossing is an excellent book for anyone working in musical acoustics or building instruments. Covers a wide range of instruments and gives extensive references to primary literature and ... it's good reading too.

This is a one-of-a-kind book on the physics of musical instruments. However, be aware that it is a book about physics ONLY. There are no hints or exercises on how to model musical instruments, nothing on acoustics or psychoacoustics, synthesis, etc. In other words, do not expect an expanded version of Perry Cook's book "Real Sound Synthesis for Interactive Applications". If you can deal with these expectations, then this is a worthwhile read for those interested in the pure physics of musical instruments who are willing to do the work of implementing the synthesis themselves, if that is the reader's ultimate goal. The first eight chapters of the book provide some pretty good background material on vibrating systems and sound waves that should be read sequentially. However, from chapter 9 through 21 the author just presents the physics of each instrument with no real organization by chapter, unless you count the fact that the physics of the instruments are presented in groups organized as either percussion, wind, or stringed instruments. There is a final chapter on materials and their properties that doesn't really fit in with previous chapters. Each chapter has an extensive bibliography. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in the physics of musical instruments and has the necessary mathematical maturity to handle the material. The reader who has taken a year of college physics with maybe a specific class on acoustics and who also is comfortable with calculus and both partial and ordinary differential equations would be best qualified to make the most of the information in this book. Having had a course in the EE topic of Signals and Systems wouldn't hurt either when it comes to the discussions of frequency analysis and response.
The books that helped me get through the math and physics of this volume were Kinsler's "Fundamentals of Acoustics", "Introduction to Partial Differential Equations with Applications" by Zachmanoglou, and finally, an out-of-print work: "Schaum's Outline of Acoustics" by Seto, ISBN 0070563284.

This is the long-awaited second edition of Fletcher & Rossing. Note first that it really is a reference work, not a teaching text. There is no lesson plan, no problems, no solutions manual, no accompanying workbook Except for the first two foundation sections on vibrating systems and sound waves, there is no ongoing development. Nothing builds. It's just one topic piled on another.
But the great merit of reference works is that you can cherry-pick, i.e. seek information on isolated topics with little concern for what preceded them. As a reference work, F&R get the highest possible marks from me. They are clearly the masters of this field, not least because of their numerous important contributions to it. With the possible exception of the works of Arthur Benade, they own the business.
Despite its enormous size and great depth of coverage, however, it is not an encyclopedic study of musical instruments. It is exactly what the title says: a work on the PHYSICS of musical instruments. A rigid boundary has been drawn between physics and every other aspect of music-making. In particular, psychoacoustics is totally ignored. There are no entries in the index under loudness, Fletcher-Munson, combination tones, false bass, consonance, dissonance, etc. Even equal temperament tuning gets little more than one page out of 756.
The Preface says the work is addressed to "the reader...who is not frightened by a little mathematics." Well, some of the math is "little" but some of it is not. See for example the use of Green's functions to find the air load on a vibrating membrane, pp. 588-590. Perhaps at MIT, where incoming freshman are sorted out by the do-or-die killer course in mathematical physics from Morse & Feshbach, these methods are taught to undergrads, but not at most other schools. Almost everywhere else this would be considered first-year graduate material. These pages would not only frighten the average reader; they frighten me. I always hated Green's functions and considered it part of my mission in life to prune them away wherever they grew.
There are a few typos, mislabeled equations and the like. The next-to-last sentence of text on p. 232 says, "This is an adquate approximation provided the sound wavelength is small compared to the transverse dimensions of the ducts and cavities involved." Surely "small" should read "large."
In sum, not for beginners, and probably not for most musicians either. But within its compass it reigns supreme. There is no better book in this field.

I loved reading the book from cover to cover. It has excellent recipes...I've already made Green Rice and Buffalo Chili from it...both of them a super hit at my house.
I tried the mac and cheese too...it was a little bland, but better than most I've tried before.

This cookbook actually made me feel proud to be an American. It's brilliant, colorful, very interesting, and it's filled with great recipes that we all know and love... What more can I say!!!

This book is really nice, even if you don't cook (but I think you will be trying, if you have a look at the pictures), it gives plenty of information on the land and people and, obviously, on what they eat. It has an interesting introduction on the land and then it is divided into several chapters on appetizers and snacks, main courses, side dishes and desserts and each recipe is gorgeously photographed, as I already said, they will make you hungry!
The book is large and my first impression was that it would never get used in the kitchen, but I was wrong, because the recipes are laid out to spread out on one page only, so that you will not have to mess with dirty fingers on your nice new book, and they are delicious!
I tried a few of them and they all disappeared from the plates. We tried stuffed turkey with cranberry relish at Christmas, we already had a recipe and thought it was very good, but wanted to try this new one: well, it was so much better!
Not being American I cannot tell whether the recipes are truly authentic ones or not, as many of them are unfamiliar to me. All I can say is that what I tried so far was Oh so Good!

At the end of the book there is a glossary of strange items and a few basic recipes for stock, flaky pastry and the really delicious Hot Pepper Jelly, if you buy the book you have to try it!

Well, now the sore spot: the book is quite expensive. I know it is, but trust me, you will not regret you bought it! It is a "posh" book, if such things exist: big size, glossy high quality paper, gorgeous pictures, it really deserves to be shown on your coffee table. A great buy.

This is an excellent tap reference. It lists each step and then breaks down the combinations.

A must have for any tap enthusiast. Tapworks contains a brilliant history of some of the most popular steps such as the "shuffle off to buffalo" and various "time steps." It breaks down steps in an easy to decipher fashion. I learned so many new steps that were fun and easy to teach. Bev Fletcher is a master of tap. Us students need to learn all she has to offer to keep tap dance alive in the millennium.

this book has an amazing review of the 65 time steps...however, i just learned that there are 200 more (someone is hiding them)...so i was wondering how you submit these time steps to the official book, and if you're allowed to just make up new ones. thanks so much!!

I read "The Trial of Davy Crockett" by Fletcher Rhoden last week. From the moment I picked it up I couldn't put it down, and now that I've finished reading it I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. It's an extremely well-written and carefully-crafted piece, and the author obviously took great pains with his research. I'm interested in Texas history, but I'm certainly not an aficionado of the genre. What really fascinated me was the humanistic approach that Rhoden took with the meeting of these two larger-than-life historical characters, Davy Crockett and Generalissimo Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, at the battle for the Alamo. It somehow combined the fanciful, what-if philosophy of "The Last Temptation of Christ" with the delicious possibilities presented in the best episodes of "Meeting of Minds or Steve Martin's wonderful play, "Picasso at the Lapin Agile". I recommend this book to anyone interested in American history, but more importantly, to anyone who enjoys a chance to listen in on what might have transpired beween great men with great thoughts had they had the opportunity to really get into each other's heads.

The Trial of Davy Crockett offers more than simply a must for Texas history buffs. In this novella, based in fact, author Fletcher Rhoden examines a dynamic character in Santa Anna and in so doing allows the reader a compelling account of Mexican history at a time when that country was shrinking under American expansionism. A subject all too often ignored by many American historians. The character of Davy Crockett does not wane in the shadow of Santa Anna. Written in a style so unique and intelligent, the reader cannot help but to keep turning the page. Santa Anna has become a sort of ogre in American eyes because of the slaughter at the Alamo and the brutality of the massacre at Goliad. The author's presentation of this dynamic historical period through the eyes of Santa Anna, definately gives the reader a thought provoking view of Latino History.

The Trial Of Davy Crockett is a speculative fiction novella. Author Fletcher Rhoden questions whether Davy Crockett was truly killed during the battle for the Alamo - or whether he was captured and executed by the Mexicans. The Trial Of Davy Crockett presents a hypothetical dialogue between Crockett and Generalissimo Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, which collide in an articulate, wry, thought-provoking, and no-holds-barred verbal conflict regarding the Texian Revolution and America's unrestrained expansionism. Neither Crockett or Santa Anna is stereotyped in the roles of hero or villain; their opposing points of view are given a clear and fair hearing, for all to see and judge for themselves. Based entirely on the facts of the revolution, The Trial Of Davy Crockett is a "must" for Texas history buffs and not to be missed.

This is an excellent book for watercolorists interested in learning the difficult art of painting one of the most difficult and yet common subjects.
Starting with colors and methods Adelene Fletcher goes on to describe in some detail how to paint a variety of common and not so common trees. The joy too is in the little paintings on some of the pages which illustrate the leaves, fruit or whatever, just thrown in for fun!
If you are interested in painting in watercolors - you should buy this book - you will learn a great deal whatever your level of skill is.

I found this artist to be very excellent. She not only showed a wide variety of trees, but had excellent technigue, and wonderfully detail instructions and demonstrations.

This is a BEAUTIFUL book by Adelene Fletcher, who also wrote her A to Z book on painting flowers in watercolor. Both of these books are tops on my list of great watercolor books to learn painting from.

This book begins with the materials and pallet she uses, then she teaches you the techniques you will use in the rest of the book, such as washes, brushwork, various wet in wet methods such as water-spotting, crisp defined shapes, crisp edges, glazing, creating soft blends, various wet on dry methods such as softening with a tissue, softening with a sponge,,various texturing methods such as spattering, granulation, sponging, wax resist, feathering , Other techniques taught are reserving and reclaiming whites and the various ways this is done, and negative painting, using body color to define the lighter shapes, and highlighting.

The teaching of the techniques Fletcher uses are followed by a two page spread of the 26 trees that she will teach you to paint in this book Each tree lesson is given in a fully detailed step-by-step sequence with color close ups of each step, Also given are close ups of the branch structure without leaves, and the leave appearance and coloration of that particular tree along with it's seed shape and coloration. Each tree lesson gives the pallet used for that exercise. The end each tree lesson has two pages of a painting of that tree in close up view in a nature scene, allowing you to have a good idea of what the final painting should like with it's trunk structure and texture, branch structure and leaves.

This is an excellent book for watercolorists at all levels. Beginners will benefit greatly from its easy to follow lessons on the various techniques used. The step-by-step instructions are easy to follow and are based on the lessons she gives you in the beginning techniques section, where she demonstrates how these are used in particular to paint trees and their various parts. The paintings of the various trees are beautiful, and the instructions with close-ups of the detailed steps are well written and easy to follow.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning watercolor techniques and also, for the mores advanced student on learning more detail about specific trees and their structure and textures. It is also a beautiful book to enjoy for the paintings alone. GREAT BOOK!!"

This book was a great read. I picked it up from a table just to kill some time and could not put it down. I wanted to find out what the next river, town and tavern were like. I found the history tid bits on the towns to be very interesting. This will be a great book for those who are planning a canoe trip. It will help you make choices on the level of difficulty and length of the trip. The authors descriptions give a vivid picture of the scenery with visual landmarks to help you gage how far you have left to go and convienient stopping points along the way. If your going to canoe in Michigan, GET THIS BOOK FIRST and be assured of what river you are choosing complete with the Livery contact info. The author shows a keen wit and sense of humor that made me laugh. I actually got the feeling I was on a vacation as I read this book and has inspired me to want to become a canoeing enthusiast.

I never tire of vacationing in Michigan, there is so much to do and see, and Weekend Canoeing in Michigan by Doc Fletcher is a wonderful addition to my collection of travel books. The pictures are beautiful and the historical tidbits are morsels to savor. I read the book in one sitting and laughed out loud all the way through. His writing style and sense of humor makes sure that every chapter leaves a smile on your face. He includes comprehensive information on the Rivers, Towns and Taverns so you will have everything you need to know for an exciting trip to 5 Upper and 15 Lower Peninsula Rivers.
This book is essential reading for anyone considering their first or fiftieth canoe trip and is one book you will want to share with other Michigan enthusiasts.

I recommend it for Michigan natives, anyone heading into the area and for community library travel collections.

What a treat this book is for anybody who has ever canoed, wanted to canoe, or just wanted to live vicariously through the adventures of others. You can just tell by reading the book and looking at the pictures that Doc Fletcher loves the whole experience. More than just a guide to rivers, it's a guide to the whole experience, including the towns and taverns, along with a little history. Well-written and fun to read, you couldn't ask for more, except maybe an invitation to join one of Doc's caneoing trips!

I have been studying Fasting and prayer for some time. I thought I was well versed until I read Dr. Fletcher's book. This book articulates the importance of fasting as part of a believer's walk in such a simply profound way, that I had to read it again right after. Since then, I have purchased multiple copies to pass on. You will be blessed when you incorporate fasting into your life.

This is an excellent book on prayer and fasting. Dr. Fletcher thoroughly explains both the how and why of prayer and fasting to help today's Christian connect solidly to the only true Source of Power. This should be required reading for every 21st century Christian.

This book is so outstanding I bought several copies and passed them out to my friends. They felt the same way as I do about the book. Every Christian should add this book to their library! This man really gets to the heart on the subject of prayer and fasting. I can't say enough good things about this book!!!!!

"WHERE THE WILD ROSE GROWS" is an expertly crafted work of fiction and before you know it, you find yourself pulled into the story and life of its main character 'Cilla.'

Intense and heartfelt, Cilla's character is well rounded, distinct and comes alive as you journey with her through her tragic and at times hopeless situation life has placed her in. The author has you hoping and wanting the best for her and unable to stop thinking about what happens to her next when you put the book down. Penny Fletcher has created an unforgettable character, and written a powerful and moving novel.

I felt that I knew Cilla personally and was pulling for her all the way. What an inspirational story! Give this book to anyone who has had a difficult childhood.

By Mitch Traphagen
mitch@observernews.net

There is an easy test to see if someone is listening, to find out if the story you tell is interesting. While telling a story, simply stop in the middle of it. If no one asks, "So what happened next?" then you can be sure no one was listening.

While reading "Where the Wild Rose Grows" by Penny Fletcher, I had to stop in the middle to photographs a few events. I left wondering what will happen next. In fact, I couldn't wait to get back to the book to find out.

Where the Wild Rose Grows is a story of a gifted young woman growing up in a difficult, actually tragic time. Fletcher skillfully opens a door in the pages of her book allowing the reader to come inside. Without resorting to gimmicks, she allows the reader to vividly experience both the sadness and joy of a setting that for some is not purely fiction. The imagery is finally crafted and the story unfolds in the mind of the reader rather than simply on the printed page.

Despite never having personally experienced it, I was able to feel only too well the desolation and, for many at least, the loss of hope created by the abject poverty of her 1960s rural Tennessee setting. And despite what seemed to be an utterly hopeless situation, the reader is never left to feel hopeless. Throughout the book, the reader is allowed to hold on to a strong sense of goodness and hope that transcends the story.

In terms of the story, it is good. Actually, it is excellent. There is enough detail to allow the reader to feel they know the characters, both good and bad, yet one is never mired down by an overabundance of minutiae. The story is so finely paced that even gaps of months in the storyline do not leave the reader feeling as though they were forced to jump from one period to the next. The story flows well from beginning to end.

In technical terms the books shines as well. Quite often books that were not produced by the major publishing houses suffer from a lesser degree of proofreading and editing. The stories are often among the best but the message is distorted by forcing the reader to overcome a limited editing budget. This is simply not the case with Where the Wild Rose Grows. Editing is extremely tight and no proofreading omissions were found. This is clearly a book of the highest standards.

Even some of our most famous authors often have difficulty ending their books. Fletcher managed to quickly wrap up her story and it ended well. In finishing the book, I only had one problem with it. I wanted to know what happened to Wild Rose as she grew up. I closed the book wondering, "What happens next?"

SUMMARY: South Hillsborough County has produced a number of outstanding authors and Penny Fletcher has taken her place at the top of that select group. Her story is no lightweight; it is thoughtful, painful and joyful with outstanding imagery. The setting is powerful and the characters come to life in the mind. I would highly recommend Where the Wild Rose Grows.

Reprinted with permission from the Observer News (www.observernews.net)

Without a doubt this book would make a wonderful movie. John D'Salvo would make the perfect Maxmillian.

I have always enjoyed a good mystery and a breathtaking romance. Whispers on the Wind is both. It will keep you on the edge of your seat, awake until dawn just to find out what happens. If ever there was a man to fantasize about, it is definitely Max. It made my toes curl just picturing in my mind everything he speaks of. Definitely a keeper!

This is a fantastic read, one which kept me turning pages long after bedtime. Ms. Fletcher's ability to tell a story, a love story, is fantastic. It is sweet and sexy, and so is the hero. As a fellow romance writer, I admired Ms. Fletcher's characterizations-the characters leaped from the pages. Even minor characters were well-rounded. The dual love-story/ghostly attraction was funny, sexy, sad, and frustrating; all the emotions the characters felt. I clapped my hands when the heroine finally figures out part of the great mystery-I won't ruin it for you! You must read this book