California is book country

This One originally ran in the Los Angeles Times. Kenneth Turan enjoys the company of books, especially on vacation. No matter which country he visits — even such places as China, Japan or Greece, where deciphering the language is not an option — he seeks out bookstores and hang around. So when he heard that one of the great Western concentrations of independent booksellers, more than two dozen establishments at last count, was just a few hours away from LA, a trip seemed mandatory.