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Steve W

Steve W

I'm an Instrumental Music teacher at a public school in Howard County, MD. I am married and have 2 sons. As you can no doubt tell from looking at my bookshelf, I'm either interested in a lot of different things, or not really interested in anything. I guess it just depends on your point of view! Honestly, I didn't really care much for... more »
  • Columbia, MD, USA
  • member since January 1 2008

Reviews

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Displaying 41-50 of 67 reviews
  • Chew On This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food
    • Rated 4 stars

    “I got this book on Amazon because it came recommended when I bought "Fast Food Nation", also by Eric Schlosser. I assumed, therefore, that it would be different. It really wasn't. This book is basically a somewhat watered down version of "FFN" intended for teens and young adults.

    Where "FFN" goes into much greater detail on the issues surrounding the fast food empire and the spreading global culture of a "McWorld", this book hits the main points in a way that would be more appealing to a younger set or adults interested more in an overview.

    I would recommend "FFN" for anyone who has the time, patience, and stomach to get through it, but if you want to get all the main points without all the details, then go for "Chew On This". It's an important subject that few of us really know anything about, so either book is worth reading to spark some thought about what you're actually putting into your body.

    One advantage I found with "Chew On This" over "FFN" is that "Chew On This" is a newer publication, therefore contains more recent studies and more current examples. Although "FFN" was only written in 2001, the industry is changing so rapidly, many of the issues dealt with in the book have shifted since that time.”

    Steve W wrote this review Friday, January 25 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Fast Food Nation
    • Rated 5 stars

    “If you have never REALLY wanted to look in the kitchen of your favorite restaurant, this is probably not the book for you. Honestly, I enjoy the "Ignorance is Bliss" philosophy myself, but this book came highly recommended by several people so I gave it a try. And, once I started reading it, I couldn't stop. There are definitely parts of these book that got me really angry and parts that brought on an extra value sized helping of nausea. As disturbing as I found the vast majority of this book, I truly enjoyed reading it.

    Eric Schlosser does a great job of exposing the many aspects of the fast food empire that, even if you know about them (or at least assumed them to be true), you really would rather not think about. It's definitely an eye-opener. Be careful, though... you may not really want your eyes opened that much!”

    Steve W wrote this review Thursday, January 24 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
    • Rated 2 stars

    “Saw the movie... thought it was weird. Visited Savannah... decided to buy the book. Started reading the book... thought it was boring. Set the book on my nightstand... started reading something else. This book may sit on my "I'm Reading" shelf for a long time.”

    Steve W wrote this review Thursday, January 24 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • I Am America (And So Can You!)
    • Rated 3 stars

    “I was a little disappointed by this book. After all, I had been on the wait list at the library for several weeks! It was obviously very tongue-in-cheek (although honestly I don't really know what that means).

    Truth be told, I have never seen "The Colbert Report" so I had no experiences that would logically lead me to have an realistic expectations whatsoever. And, without these rationally conceived expectations, there would be no way I could truly be disappointed. And yet... I was.”

    Steve W wrote this review Tuesday, January 22 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Digital Fortress
    • Rated 3 stars

    “Having read "The DaVinci Code" and "Angels and Demons", my expectations for this Dan Brown book were pretty high. I also live very close to the NSA, so I thought it may hold a bit more personal relevance. I enjoyed it, but did not find it nearly as interesting as either of the other two books. (The other 2, of course, related to each other as they were both "Robert Langdon" thrillers, where this one was not. Also, the other two were based on religion conspiracy rather than this one that was based on government conspiracy.)

    I thought it was enjoyable, but certainly not as good as "DaVinci" or "Angels". It's worth reading, but if you only have time to read one book, go for "Angels and Demons". Two books... "Angels and Demons" and The DaVinci Code". But if you have time for three books, this one would round out the Dan Brown trifecta. (Of course, he has written other books that I have not read, so I can't say where those would fall in. Don't look as interesting to me, though. I think I'll wait for the next Robert Langdon story.)”

    Steve W wrote this review Monday, January 21 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Complete Phantom of the Opera
    • Rated 4 stars

    “Back when I was in high school, I was TOTALLY into "The Phantom of the Opera" -- not the book, not the movie, just the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. So fittingly I read this book. If you're into the show, this is a really great book. Not only are the explanations of all the "behind the scenes" stuff incredible, but the photos couldn't be better. The one time I actually got to see the show, I was sitting in the upper tier and pretty darned close to the back, so I couldn't see all the detail until I read this book. Definitely worth a read for any "Phantom" fan.”

    Steve W wrote this review Wednesday, January 16 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Complete Works of William Shakespeare
    • Rated 5 stars

    “At some point, everyone who reads and attended school has read some Shakespeare. I can't help it... I'm a fan! It may be the limits of my own intellect, but I personally don't get a lot from his plays when I read them (although it does get better with practice). I really feel that they need to be seen to be appreciated.

    While Shakespeare is pretty much required reading for upper-middle and high school students, I think it is under-utilized at the elementary level. When teaching a fifth grade class, I had great success sprinkling in a sonnet here and there. (Although, I would advise you totally understand all the meanings of the sonnet you choose before you try it. Not all of them are "SFW".) The best part of it... the kids were really into it and they felt so proud that they were getting to read "grown up" literature in the fifth grade.

    If you have never read anything by Shakespeare, you really should give it a try. I haven't read everything in this book, but, aside from the classic "Romeo and Juliet", I would definitely recommend checking out "Hamlet", "Richard III" and a sonnet or two.”

    Steve W wrote this review Wednesday, January 16 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • Invisible Man: A Novel
    • Rated 4 stars

    “I had to read this book in high school and, honestly, I didn't (a not uncommon theme recurring throughout my mediocre performance in my high school English classes). The discussion of the book were pretty interesting, though, so I wished that I had read it, but, by then we were off to another book (that I probably wouldn't read either).

    I did read the book (eventually) while I was in college. Sadly it was because I was ducking work for another class, but I did really enjoy it. As books for English class go, it's not very difficult to read and I did find it pretty captivating. I can't relate to the story but I liked the concept Ellison used of an "Invisible Man" to describe his journey as an African American man growing up in a prejudiced society.

    Pretty thought provoking at the time, undoubtedly even more so if I was to re-read it at this point in my life.”

    Steve W wrote this review Wednesday, January 16 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Parenting
    • Rated 3 stars

    “I don't know how often I'm going to need to know how to fend off an alligator while being eaten alive by maggots trapped in my car which is quickly sinking to the bottom of some quicksand, but even if I don't this book is easy to read and pretty enjoyable.”

    Steve W wrote this review Wednesday, January 16 2008. ( reply | permalink )
  • A return to civility: Techniques for classroom management ; communication, agreements, responsibility choices, integrityA return to civility: Techniques for classroom management ; communication, agreements, responsibility choices, integrityTaft Utermohle
    • Rated 2 stars

    “I stumbled onto this book when I was looking for P.M. Forni's "Choosing Civility" and thought that, as a teacher, it would give me some insight into ways to incorporate lessons about civility into my class. Unfortunately, I didn't really find it beneficial at all. The bulk of the book just relates the story of how Utermohle underwent the process of teaching her framework of civility to her students.

    As with most books of this nature, there were a few "nuggets" I may be able to pull out of it, but having read Forni's book, my expectations about the usefulness of this book were high and I didn't feel that this book lived up to those expectations.

    It was easy to read (I finished it in about two hours), but I wouldn't personally recommend it. Definitely read "Choosing Civility" by P.M. Forni and you ill probably be able to figure out ways to teach the concepts to your students.

    I would give credit to Utermohle for writing on a topic that, in my opinion, definitely needs to be addressed by society -- that of teaching our children to carry themselves and behaved in a more civil manner. And, as a documentation of what she did to accomplish this with her students, this book, though repetitive, was fine. It just didn't offer the insight that I had hoped it would.”

    Steve W wrote this review Tuesday, January 15 2008. ( reply | permalink )
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