Welcome to this week’s blog, and our roundup of your comments and photos from last week.

Since it’s Halloween, a genuinely terrifying book: The Collected Stories of Paul Bowles - as recommended by SydneyH:

It’s hard to describe Paul Bowles – his work is just simmering with menace and unease... The third story was the genuinely traumatic A Distant Episode… Don’t read it, gentle forest-dwellers. I think it’s the nastiest short story I’ve ever read. He never gets quite that sinister again, though he has a decent crack in The Delicate Prey, The Hours after Noon, and others. The texts juxtapose desert scenery with lush jungle settings, and even occasional snowy landscapes, and there are lots of memorable stories in this volume... You don’t often hear Bowles described as a ‘Great American Writer’, but as a purveyor of dramatic prose, he is very hard to beat.

While we’re dealing with nightmares, BaddHamster has found plenty of contemporary resonances in The Great Shark Hunt, a collection of Hunter S. Thompson’s writing:

Fascinating stuff, especially when he’s writing about politics. Occasionally I have to remind myself that he’s writing about the 60s and 70s because a lot of it is disturbingly prescient. Plus ça change...

And while we’re on larger-than-life personalities, FunkBrother69 has been reading Mark E Smith’s Renegade:

By no means a literary masterpiece this does however contain many interesting, not to say hilarious, anecdotes concerning Smith’s 40 year career with his infamous band, The Fall. Well known as a fiery character he pulls no punches (literally!) when describing his fellow (ex) band members and his vitriol knows no bounds when commenting on those who have crossed his path over the years. At times his comments seem random and nonsensical but overall this is a fascinating and entertaining account of a life lived on the edge, seen through the eyes of one of punk’s most creative forces.

Elsewhere, Veufveuve has been compelled praise Jacqueline Woodson’s Another Brooklyn:

This short book with its spare prose is about growing about black and “girl” in Brooklyn in the 1970s. It accomplishes so much very lightly. I also grew up in the 1970s, but white, “boy” and in rural Somerset, yet August’s experiences are so vividly conveyed that I almost felt I had lived them.

And lipreader has enjoyed Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi:

Thanks to those who recommended this graphic novel about a young girl’s life during the Iranian revolution. It’s my first time reading a graphic novel and I enjoyed it very much. I am looking forward to Part II.

Finally, laidbackviews reports back from a round the world trip with Ian Fleming and his collection of articles for The Sunday Times, Thrilling Cities:

The man could certainly write narrative non-fiction, though the shadow of Bond goes with him.

An air ticket, first class of course, took him to the far east and across the States, late 1959, stopping at some interesting places. A brief re-fuel at Beirut produced a brilliant few lines, included in The Writer Abroad by Lucinda Hawksely and it was that which had me searching out and reading the full book.

The spring of 1960 brought a seven litre Thunderbird out the garage to head to Europe’s highlights. No surprise that we end in Monte Carlo. On the way there’s fine dining, good company, and the occasional pachinko/card table/roulette wheel etc.

Step back in time, post war, empire crumbling. It’s good.

Interesting links about books and reading

• Thousands of letters from Marcel Proust are soon to be posted online.
• Meanwhile, an extra rare first edition of Swann’s Way is going to auction.
• Alev Scott writes about Weinsteins in publishing.
• Now you can make your Amazon Alexa assistant/spyware even more annoying by connecting it to Big Mouth Billy Bass.

If you would like to share a photo of the book you are reading, or film your own book review, please do. Click the blue button on this page to share your video or image. I’ll include some of your posts in next week’s blog.

If you’re on Instagram and a book lover, chances are you’re already sharing beautiful pictures of books you are reading: “shelfies” or all kinds of still lifes with books as protagonists. Now, you can share your reads with us on the mobile photography platform – simply tag your pictures there with #GuardianBooks, and we’ll include a selection here. Happy reading!