We love year-end lists of great reads, even if they occasionally inspire a little dread. Our tsundokus (that is, stacks of unread books) are already pretty precarious. At Atlas Obscura, we like to offer a little taste alongside our book recommendations—excerpts that both offer a great read and invite you to explore further. Here are some of our favorite book excerpts of 2021, covering everything from giant killer clams to bizarrely colorful landscapes to books bound in human skin. And if you’re a voracious reader, you should check out Atlas…
