July 2023 MBR The Religion/Spirituality Shelf

The Religion/Spirituality Shelf

Spirituality for Badasses Book Two
J. Stewart Dixon
PIE Publishing
9780985857974, $16.99 Paper, $9.99 Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/Spirituality-Badasses-Book-Two-without/dp/0985857978

Spirituality for Badasses Book Two: How to Find Your Heart and Soul Without Losing Your Cool posits a mind-altering romp through the countryside and spirituality alike. It opens with a chatty tone of confrontation and realization that immediately informs readers that this book represents something more than a lesson in road trips, spirituality or self-realization: "So, you think you're gonna double your spiritual badass just by reading Book Two? Think again. There is no doubling your badass. There is only one amount of spiritual badass and you already (sorta-kinda-you'll see) have it. You've always had it. You never lost it. You can't lose it. But I presume, since you're back for more, something is still nagging you."

If Book One was "just a slow dance at a rural county fair" then "This book - well, it's a stage dive into a slam-dancing mosh pit at a punk concert." The metaphysical journey which evolves represents a romp of mindful and spiritual proportions as first-person admonitions move through new realizations, realities, and acknowledgements of the ironies and inconsistencies of beliefs and spiritual revelation, all cemented by a flavor of humor: "You'd think a guy who writes books with the word "spirituality" in them wouldn't have waited until page 95 of his fourth book to address a pretty damn fundamental - ahem - spiritual topic: Death."

What first appears to be a lesson in spirituality turns out to be a fictional foray into a quest through other worlds as the narrator moves through Kansas City, Vegas, and other milieus to confront Death the Destroyer of Dreams and further challenges to spiritual and life perception. "The New Age thinkers and doers... chant and hope and wish and dream... a neverending dream of finally... one day... arriving."

In Spirituality for Badasses Book Two, the journey towards revised realizations about life, death, and everything in between is as important as the ultimate destination. The rollicking nature of this expedition into consciousness creates a powerful story that operates in the realm of metaphysical fiction and philosophy, but holds so many fiery topics for debates and fun that book clubs and spiritual new age groups will find much fodder for discussion as the tale unfolds.

Libraries and readers looking for a road trip through irony and life inspection will relish the originally creative tone and hard-hitting accusations and realizations of Spirituality for Badasses Book Two.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no funds from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, internet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested individuals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.

The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "California Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwatch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview (dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugalmuse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publisher, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review