VENTURA COUNTY WEEKEND : Used-Book Store Adds to Pleasures of Harbor : Pennyworth opened four months ago offering titles for the whole family in a spectacular location.

With no specific plan in mind, I found myself strolling around Ventura Harbor Village recently. And as so often occurs, the best adventures are the unexpected ones.

I discovered Pennyworth Books, which features “previously read, good-as-new titles” displayed facing out so customers don’t have to go through the usual neck-twisting contortions to read the titles.

Proprietors Nancy and Bob Kohler opened Pennyworth at 1591 Spinnaker Drive just four months ago to provide a “family bookstore for children, teen-agers and adults in a spectacular location.”

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Walter the Giant Storyteller (who is 6 feet, 7 1/2 inches tall) will spin tales at 10 a.m. Friday at Adventures for Kids, 3457 Telegraph Road, Ventura.

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And the beat goes on at Mysteries to Die For, 2940 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks: Bill Moody will sign “Death of a Tenor Man” at 1 p.m. Friday. Jeanne Dams will sign her thriller featuring a 60-something widow who solves the crime in “The Body in the Transcript” at noon Saturday.

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Barnes & Noble, 4360 E. Main St., Ventura, has scheduled three literary events this week. Santa Barbara author Richard Barre will sign his adventure thriller “The Innocents” at 1 p.m. Saturday; a theatrical reading of excerpts from “Les Miserables” will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday; students from Ventura College creative writing classes will present their poetry at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

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Ventura storyteller Jim Woodard will spin his yarns at 11 a.m. and noon Saturday at the grand opening of Borders Books-Music-Cafe, 125 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. The noon performance will be broadcast live on KCLU, Ventura County’s public radio station at 88.3 FM. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Michael McReary will sign his book, “Havens,” a pictorial guide to celebrity homes in the Los Angeles area.

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The Computer Interest Group of the Conejo Valley Genealogical Society will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Conejo Valley Adult Center, 1025 Old Farm Road, Thousand Oaks. Rex Clement of Gen-Book will demonstrate how the program can generate a book based on family records. Call 495-9659 for reservations.

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The Ojai Library, 111 E. Ojai Ave., will host a party to celebrate the 50th birthday of Pippi Longstocking at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Actress/singer Whitney Kershaw will read, and bookseller Barbro Drott Huth will display her collection of translations of the Pippi books, from Arabic to Vietnamese.

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UP THE COAST: Smith Barney and John Hancock financial services will share “Tax Saving Secrets for 1995” at 7 tonight at Earthling Bookshop, 1137 State St.

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Eight California red wines will be presented for tasting at a reception at 6 p.m. Friday in Sullivan Goss Books & Prints, 7 E. Anapamu St. The $6.95 fee includes hors d’oeuvres and wine.

Information on literary events should be sent to Frances Halpern at least two weeks in advance. Write to her at 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001, or send faxes to 653-7576.