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All photos by Slim Paley

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Speaking of Summer Reading…(well,weren’t we??!)

(Look, it’s almost Summer. Lengthy segues are for Fall)

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As I mentioned last week, I decided  to reread “Dandelion Wine” by Ray Bradbury so we stopped in to one of the true treasures of Ojai;

“Bart’s Books”

to see if they had a copy.

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Just one block off the main street of Ojai, Bart’s is a sincerely NOVEL experience (:))

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Passing through the  narrow entrance  one discovers  a  preposterous proposal-

a bookshop open almost entirely to the elements 24/7!

What of the rain? you may well ask, as I did.

Well, firstly, it hardly ever rains in Ojai, but when it does the overhang apparently provides just enough coverage to keep inventory dry.

Being on the inland side of the mountain range that separates Ojai from Ventura and Santa Barbara, the climate is much warmer (OK, it’s HOT) and therefore the books don’t suffer from damp in the way they would oceanside.

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 How many bookshops do you frequent where enormous grapefruits come rolling off the roof  to land at your feet?? ( top right corner)

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Or you’re offered a perch in your own little interrogation booth to peruse  ’True Crime’ tombs?

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A ginormous cat named “PYGMIE” presides, serving up more attitude than a French flight attendant.

This was the look she gave me when I asked how often they turn over the choices on their “Most Requested” shelf.

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Grab a stick of hard candy or a Nespresso and stay for hours- as we did!

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Cookery books are to be found, where else? in the kitchen of course.

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Bart’s, not surprisingly,  had experienced a run on their Bradbury inventory over the last 48 hours so there were no more “Dandelion Wine”s

however we found many other fun treasures

including a copy (in one of their few glass book cases) of Charles Baker Jr.’s “The Gentleman’s Companion: Volume I & II” for a reasonable $100

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Slim Paley photo

Featured in one of my past posts, The Gentleman’s Companion is THE ultimate book concerning the art of concocting cocktails.

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as well as this fab Douglas Fairbanks biography with a most irresistible cover.

Eat your heart out Johnny Depp.

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Lastly, not to be a rabble-rouser, but

know what I won’t be reading this summer?

“50 Shades of Grey”

There.

I said it.

I feel like Meryl Streep in “Silkwood”

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PS.

After all your hard work and heavy lifting at Bart’s, why not saunter up the road to the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa and treat yourself to one of these;

(Vegetarians look away)

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I cannot deny I was dreaming of this burger the entire drive over.

Great Burgers & Books.

Life is Good!

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