The Last Word Bookstore opens today in the Near Southside neighborhood of Fort Worth, Tex., fulfilling a childhood dream of owner Paul Combs, Bookselling This Week reported. "I've wanted to have a bookstore since I was six or seven years old. That was the first time I really remember my mom taking me to one," he said. "But then life intervened and that never really came about." After learning last December that his job was being outsourced, he "made the decision to open his own general interest bookstore, and hasn't looked back since," BTW wrote, adding that Combs used a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for start-up costs. 
The 2,700-square-foot location will feature more fiction than nonfiction, as well as a wide selection of local and independently published authors. Because children's bookstore Monkey & Dog Books is located nearby, Combs is offering a relatively small selection for younger readers.
"I'm probably working harder than I ever have in my life to get things going, but I've never been happier doing it," he noted. "When I first found out I was getting laid off, I asked my youngest daughter if it would be crazy to open a bookstore, and she said to me, 'No crazier than if you were to keep talking about it for the rest of your life and not do the one thing you've been wanting to do.' "
