Bedside Table: Readers suggest books

June 7, 2014 — 2:00pm

Paul Zerby of Minneapolis writes:

It seems the less I write, the more I read. Of late, I've enjoyed several books chosen for me by others, in no particular order:

• "A Choice of Weapons," by Gordon Parks, this year's One Minneapolis One Read, a lean autobiography with harrowing detail from Parks' formative years in the Twin Cities.

• "The Good Soldier," by Ford Madox Ford, the most recent choice by the Harvard Classic Book Club, a complex, beautifully structured tale of adulterous passion in the years leading up to World War I.

• "The Black Echo," the first of Michael Connelly's great Harry Bosch series of police procedurals, starring one of the most fascinating protagonists ever to grace the genre.

• "As Flies to Whatless Boys," a charming and funny novel by Robert Antoni, the bard of Trinidad, given me by my son Paul. No wonder I haven't been getting much writing done.

What's on your nightstand? E-mail us at books@startribune.com

Maurizio Cattalan, Zoe Soldana collaborate in iconoclastic Vatican exhibition inside women's prison

A pair of nude feet — dirty, wounded and vulnerable — are painted on the façade of the Venice women's prison chapel, the work of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and part of the Vatican's pavilion at the Venice Biennale contemporary art show in an innovative collaboration between inmates and artists.

Variety

12:25am

AP Explains: 4/20 grew from humble roots to marijuana's high holiday

Saturday marks marijuana culture's high holiday, 4/20, when college students gather — at 4:20 p.m. — in clouds of smoke on campus quads and pot shops in legal-weed states thank their customers with discounts.

Variety

12:03am

Would you like a cicada salad? The monstrous little noisemakers descend on a New Orleans menu

As the nation prepares for trillions of red-eyed bugs known as periodical cicadas to emerge, it's worth noting that they're not just annoying, noisy pests — if prepared properly, they can also be tasty to eat.

Business

April 18

Finding an apartment may be easier for California pet owners under new legislation

California pet owners struggling to find a rental that accepts their furry, four-legged family members could have an easier time leasing new housing under proposed state legislation that would ban blanket no-pets policies and prohibit landlords from charging additional fees for common companions like cats and dogs.