Bibliophiles can get lost at Bart's Books in Ojai, Calif., for hours. More than 1 million used and new books are tucked in every nook and cranny of the open-air establishment. Some are even displayed in shelves on the exterior of bookstore, and after hours, readers can drop money through a slot to purchase any of those selections.
My boyfriend and I wandered up and down the maze-like aisles of oversize cookbooks, thick romance novels and dog-eared historical fiction, pausing whenever a cover sparked our curiosity or a title felt sweetly familiar. Once we each carried a stack several levels high, we plopped onto seats to begin reading, feeling the warmth of Ojai's year-round sunshine and the quaint charm that is Bart's Books.
