Let's be clear from the start: this isn't a storybook. You won't find a plot with heroes and villains. Instead, 'A Hundred and Sixty Books by Washington Authors' is exactly what the title says—a list. Published in 1915, it's a bibliography. Susan Whitcomb Hassell, a person about whom we know almost nothing, compiled a catalog of books written by authors from Washington State up to that point.

The Story

There is no traditional story. The 'narrative' is the mystery that surrounds the book itself. The author's name is 'Unknown,' which immediately throws up a red flag. The introduction is brief and factual, simply presenting the list. The entries themselves are dry: titles, authors' names, publication dates, sometimes a short note. But the silence is deafening. Who was Susan Whitcomb Hassell? Was she a librarian? A historian? A passionate amateur? Her motivations are a complete blank. The central 'conflict' is between the solid, typed facts on the page and the vast emptiness of the context behind them. It's a ghost story told through bibliography.

Why You Should Read It

You should read this because it turns a simple list into a captivating detective story. It makes you ask questions about history, preservation, and how easily people and their passions can vanish. As you scan the titles—many of which are utterly obscure today—you start wondering. Did these books ever really exist? If they did, where are they now? Was Hassell creating a legitimate record, or was there something else going on? The book becomes a prompt for your own imagination. It’s a quiet, powerful reminder of all the stories that get lost, the authors who never made it into the big anthologies, and the quiet work of people like Hassell who tried, for reasons we'll never fully understand, to pin a piece of that history down on paper.

Final Verdict

This is a niche book, but a profoundly interesting one. It's perfect for history buffs, especially those interested in the Pacific Northwest, bibliophiles who love the physical history of books, and anyone who enjoys a real-world mystery. If you need a fast-paced plot, this isn't for you. But if you like the idea of holding a tangible piece of a puzzle—a artifact that asks more questions than it answers—then you'll find this little volume completely absorbing. It's a quiet, strange, and haunting look at the fragile paper trail we leave behind.