MIDWAY, Ky. — On Saturday, Annie Denington's dream to open her bookstore, A Likely Story, finally came true.

What You Need To Know

  •  Midway's newest bookstore, A Likely Story, held its grand opening Saturday

  •  This is a dream come true for Annie Denington, who will be running the bookshop

  •  When Annie developed Functional Nuerological Disorder, her mother, Ashlee Denington, suggested they open a bookstore

  • Several people stopped by the store to shop to show support

“I love it,” said Annie. “I will very much enjoy coming to work here every day.”

Annie Denington has struggled with health issues throughout her life, and at 17, she developed Functional Neurological Disorder. Reading became a source of comfort for her when she was young, and after developing FND, the idea of starting a bookstore began.

The goal was to open on National Independent Bookstore Day, and while they had to overcome hurdles to do so, the goal was met.

“About 1,300 books came in yesterday, but we spent all night shelving,” Annie Denington said.

Her family came together to help make this dream a reality. Annie’s mother, Ashlee Denington, has been by her side from the beginning.

“We all just dug in,” said Ashlee Denington. “Everything came together really great for us, it just all came together, so here we are, we made it.”

Annie Denington felt overwhelmed prior to opening the doors of her bookstore to customers for the first time, but she knows she has a lot to be grateful for.

“I’m also very happy because my mom, when we first went on this venture, she made me a promise that eventually we would have a store, and it happened,” Annie Denington said. “She kept her promise.”

Fulfilling that promise was important to Ashlee Denington.

“We’ve been five years, and that’s what I told her this morning,” she said. “I said, ‘I made a promise and I kept my promise.’ That’s all I wanted was to keep my promise to her, so we did it.”

A Likely Story has an array of genres, with some genres having more books than others.

“The bookstore definitely reflects Annie Denington’s personality and her love of reading because we are definitely heavy on mystery, thriller kind of books and [young adult fiction] and fantasy-fiction type stuff,” Ashlee Denington “Those are her favorite genres.”

There are both used books, which the women call “loved books,” and new books that are sold in the store. Annie Denington will run it from Tuesday to Sunday every week.

Related Stories