The BEST 19th Episode Ever : The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

We've waited TEN years for Suzanne Collins to release another book in the Hunger Games series.The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel to the Hunger Games. This week we talk about the series as a whole and rate the new book WITHOUT SPOILERS!! Please feel free to join us as we theorize how Panem got its start. We also talk about waste being a luxury and if Suzanne Collins predicted some of the events that we have been going through in 2020. We also go ahead and rate the book :) We also discuss which District we would each choose to live in if we had the choice! Please play along with us! What District would you want to live in?

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Ratings: We ALL gave this book a thumbs UP!!

This week we did a 1-5 scale. 1 being BLAH and 5 being GREAT!

Pacing:

Katie - 4

Mandy - 3.5

Sarah - 3

Holly - 3.5

Mood/Style:

Mandy - 3.5.5

Mandy- 3.5

Sarah - 3

Holly - 4

Character Development:

Katie - 4.5

Mandy - 3

Sarah - 4

Holly - 3

Story/Plot:

Katie - 3.5 maybe 4

Mandy - 5

Sarah - 4

Holly - 4.5

Rating the books in order of BEST in series to worst.

Katie: The Hunger Games, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Catching Fire, Mocking Jay

Mandy:The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mocking Jay

Sarah: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Mocking Jay

Holly: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Mocking Jay

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Favorite quotes from the book

“What a luxury trash would be." "Everyone had learned to despise waste. It was creeping back into fashion though.”

"Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains." -- The opening sentence of Rousseau's The Social Contract

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Show Notes

Mandy's Next Book: The Guardians by John Grisham

Sarah's Next Book:

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd

Katie's Next Book: (This was also mentioned in the podcast)

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Holly's Next Book: The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown

The book Katie Quoted from in the podcast. Stay by Anjuli Paschall

Zero Waste Videos:

The BEST 18th Episode Ever : Enneagram Enneone?

Hey BBCE friends!!

This is our second week discussing the book "The Road Back to You" by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile. This week, we rated the book and shared ideas for hosting a "The Road Back to You" themed book club. Then we discussed each of our type's wings, stress & security paths & how we have seen our type's behaviors help and hinder our relationships. We ended with a big, gushy LOVE FEST! We shared how we have each been blessed by one another's beautiful & unique personalities.

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This book got FOUR THUMBS UP!!

*Grading Scale

A - All Good

B - Better than most

C - Could have been better

D - Disappointing

F - Failure on all levels

Ratings for this book

Sarah - A (changed it to B or C but not really)

Holly - C (changed to B ... really)

Mandy - B

Katie - B (changed to A but not really)

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Ideas for hosting a book club for The Road Back to You

Location - For a 3 - the hottest new restaurant; For a 2 - In someone’s home, the more intimate the better; For a 5 - over Zoom, keep it short; For a 9 - outdoors if possible or a small, quiet coffee shop Activity - Get in touch with your inner self and do some meditation/mindfulness exercises

Décor - Flowers to represent each type

Attire - Wear your favorite outfit or an enneagram themed t-shirt like Sarah and Mandy’s shirts

Favor - Something that represents each member’s enneagram type or something that reminds you of them. Mugs from the Etsy shop BeingSarahDixon

Food - Each person bring their favorite dish or have a 7 help you pick something fun and new to try

Music - Each person share their favorite song/ make a playlist for your type on Spotify : (Katie's Type 9 Playlist) or the songs written for each type by Sleeping At Last

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Favorite quotes from the book

Accepting one’s self does not preclude and attempt to become better.” Flannery O’Connor

“The purpose of the Enneagram is to show us how we can release the paralyzing arthritic grip we’ve kept on old, self-defeating ways of living so we can open ourselves to experiencing more interior freedom and become our best selves.”

“The Enneagram should only be used to build others up and help them advance on their journey toward wholeness and God. Period.”

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Show Notes

Beth McCord - Your Enneagram Coach

@yourenneagramcoach Enneagram Journals

Jen Hatmaker's "For the Love" podcast "For the Love of the Enneagram" series

Brene´ Brown "Unlocking Us" podcast "A Skeptic and a Teacher on the Enneagram and Spiritual Contemplation

Enneagram Institute

The Sacred Enneagram

The BEST 17th Episode Ever : "The Road Back to You"

"The point of it (the Enneagram) is self-understanding and growing beyond the self-defeating dimensions of our personality, as well as improving relationships and growing in compassion for others." –– The Road Back to You

Sounds great! Let's do this!

As explained in the book The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile, the Enneagram is "an ancient personality typing system. It helps people understand who they are and what makes them tick." That is one of the author's 5-second elevator speech. But as we discover, in our longest podcast episode to date (Holly, I won something!!), using the Enneagram as a tool for personal growth, spiritual transformation and becoming our truest and best selves is far from simple. It is a painful, intense and lifelong process.

The BBCE represents four unique numbers on the Enneagram : 2, 3, 5 & 9. As you can imagine, that has presented us with some challenges in understanding each other over the years. You will hear in this week's show how the Enneagram has been a gift for our friendships. We also talk about how the Enneagram has shed light on our own struggles and how we have seen the transforming power of grace in our lives. As the Bible says, "We ... are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another." 2 Corinthians 3:18

We hope you will join us in this discussion about the Enneagram! We are doing a listener segment in next week's show (which will probably surpass this week for the title of longest episode -- yikes!) When you let an Enneagram #9 host a podcast, she may meander and get lost and then keep going and going and going.....Oh! Hello. Was I talking to you? I think I was asking for listener feedback. So tell us YOUR Enneagram number and let us know any ways the Enneagram has helped you.

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Quotes from the book “To know oneself is, above all, to know what one lacks. It is to measure oneself against Truth, and not the other way around. The first product of self-knowledge is humility.” Flannery O’Connor.

“Sins are fixations that prevent the energy of life, God’s love, from flowing freely. They are self-erected blockades that cut us off from God and hence from our own authentic potential.” Father Richard Rohr "Paradoxically, the road to peace and harmony is littered with conflict and disharmony. Scrupulously avoid anything that promises a life of peace and tranquility without conflict or pain. Whatever it is will probably end you up in rehab." Show Notes

Jen Hatmaker's "For the Love" podcast "For the Love of the Enneagram" series

Brene´ Brown "Unlocking Us" podcast "A Skeptic and a Teacher on the Enneagram and Spiritual Contemplation

AA

Enneagram Test Options :

Enneagram Institute

Your Enneagram Coach