Plot Points #78 💌

Birthdays, broken arms, detective novels, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer

May 02, 2025

Plot Points is a weekly newsletter where I share my favorite books, links, words, and more. If you enjoy what you find here, please consider subscribing or buying me a coffee.

Welp.

Yesterday was Theo’s 6th birthday. We had a lovely party at home for him last weekend, so on the day of I planned a small get-together with a couple of friends at the playground. Within fifteen minutes, Theo had jumped down from the monkey bars, fallen on his arm, and fractured it at the elbow 🙃.

Thankfully, one of the moms there is a PA at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and she helped me ascertain the damage and point us in the direction of the best urgent care. Our playground party got cut short, but the nurses at CHOA gave him a toy truck, some stickers, and a popsicle for being such a trooper, and now he’s running around telling everyone the story. It’s the first broken arm for either of our children and a birthday Theo will be sure to remember for years to come!

We love you so much, Theodore. Life with you is the best adventure.

Wendi

Word of the Week ✍🏻

Quiescent: (n.) a quiet, soft-spoken soul.

Point #1: “I’d rather be soft and happy.”

As someone who spent most of her life with sharper edges, the way my body has grown softer, older, and rounder in the years since becoming a mother has been a constant source of fascination and frustration for me. I wish it weren’t so; I wish I could embrace my postpartum body as easily as I did my pregnant one, but the messaging of my thinner-is-better youth is still deeply engrained. That’s why I’m so thankful to

Plenty of Stars

for this beautiful piece that stirs up joy for all the softer things of life. I hope to carry her words with me from now on, instead of the ones that try to deny me the privilege of this ever-changing, God-given body.

Point #2: Vintage is life.

Want to curate more quality vintage pieces for your home, but aren’t sure how to begin? This is the perfect post for you! I couldn’t agree with her final suggestion any more. (Hint: 📚)

Point #3: “No, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien are not cool.”

I was ready to throw down when I saw the title to this piece, but, boy, was I wrong.

Sigh No More

has offered such an insightful look into the need for modern young men to have role models with whom they can connect right now, in both this particular generation and in this time of their lives:

“Young men need to see real bravery, real competence, real integrity from men their own age, or close to it—men whose virtues are not unimaginably separate from their own, but rather whose strengths show them that they, too, have a place in this world.”

Point #4: The detective novel points us toward God.

This excellent article reveals how our continued enjoyment of murder mysteries—which appear sinister on the surface—are actually evidence of our need to uncover meaning in the world around us. Clues, patterns, analysis…all these point to our desire for purpose in a sometime senseless world. Such an interesting perspective!

Reading in The Nook 📚

I haven’t started anything new this week, but I picked up a couple of ebooks from both the library and Kindle Unlimited I’m excited to read.

The first is A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid, a historical fantasy with some Gothic and romance elements that’s been recommended to me a few times. There’s a heavy emphasis on books and literature, and we all know I’m a fan of books about books. And look at that cover! 😍

Next on my TBR is Eric Metaxes’ Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. I’ve read portions of Bonhoeffer’s work, and as a history and theology nut whose favorite era to study is WWII, I am particularly fascinated by his role in resisting the Third Reich. That generation produced some true giants of the faith, to be sure.

What are you reading this weekend? 👇🏻

(All Bookshop.org links are affiliates. Thank you for supporting The Nook with your purchase.)

“We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.”

—Dietrich Bonhoeffer—

Follow along as we read my latest novel, The Bluestockings!

Eleven

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The Nook