How Grapevine’s indie bookstore became an overnight success story

Though they did not know each other, Katy Lemieux and Valerie Walizadeh had a common dream that brought them together. Now, they are sharing that dream with readers young and old through their business, Talking Animals Books in Grapevine.

And, with all due respect to Dr. Doolittle, he was not the inspiration for the name.

“The name comes from ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ by C.S. Lewis. ‘The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe’ is the first in the series,” Lemieux said. “In it, the children are sent away to a distant relative’s home in the countryside during the 1940 London Blitz of WWII. When they step through the wardrobe and arrive in Narnia, the ‘talking animals’ serve as the protectors of knowledge, guiding the children.

“I kept coming back to that idea — protecting knowledge and stories by sharing them.”

Talking Animals Books, 103 W. Worth St., is the first and only independent bookstore in Grapevine. They feature books for all ages, and following their opening in February of 2023 were immediately successful.

So successful, in fact, that they have been featured statewide and nationally in Texas Monthly and USA Today. Such popularity has led them to open a second Grapevine location at 909 S. Main St. in November.

“I think the splash has come from the yearning people have had for these types of third spaces,” Walizadeh said. “Katy is great about networking and has gotten us more media attention than I think an average person could do. But if you look at the social media space, the indie bookstores are now celebrated by so many fans, it has become such a force.”

Store began with Kickstarter campaign

Talking Animals Books became a reality via a Kickstarter campaign that went viral. Lemieux called it “All or nothing, the biggest potential public failure of my career.”

Kickstarter chose it as a “Project We Love.” Then, a good friend who does a lot of work in mutual aid helped her crowdfund $10,000 in microdonations ($2-$5 donations).

One person in particular whose attention was caught was Walizadeh, who herself had long dreamed of opening a bookstore. The two clicked instantly.

“If you met us, you would think that we have known each other for a really long time,” Walizadeh said. “But we met two months before we signed our lease. We met for lunch and I think we both just had the gut feeling that we would be great together.”

Walizadeh, from Long Beach, California, and now a Colleyville resident, brought solid business experience, once even managing a Blockbuster video at 17. Lemieux, a Fort Worth native now living in Grapevine, had been a freelance journalist covering performing arts in the Metroplex for about 10 years.

They moved to the area around the same a decade ago.

“We had a mutual friend who asked me if I wanted a business partner,” Lemieux recalled. “Val had seen the Kickstarter and thought about reaching out. Our friend took us to lunch, and two hours later, we shook hands and got to work.”

Lemieux and her husband discussed starting a theater company, one that specialized in local playwrights and actors, but after COVID, the performing arts were decimated.

“I didn’t want to break into an industry that had been turned on its head. I wanted to bolster the community in the most effective way possible,” she said.

The bookstore idea came from a random day at her local coffee shop and an empty stall in the strip mall. She thought, “A bookstore here would be amazing.”

She didn’t get that spot, but it started her desire to have a bookstore in Grapevine.

Requests for ‘romansty’

Lemieux said when they first opened, they were flooded with people asking them to sell “romantasy,” which is romance/fantasy.

“There was one author they told us we must have, and it was Sarah J. Maas (’A Court of Thorns and Roses’ series). She keeps the lights on,” Lemieux said. “Our manager loves horror, which is the fastest rising genre, regardless of age. She’s sold nearly 500 copies of this one book, and now the author is coming to Grapevine to be in our horror festival in October.”

Lemieux said they will special order anything for customers. Also, staff recommendation cards are posted on the shelves.

As for their own personal favorites, Walzideh has shifted from an avid romance reader to a romantasy fan. Lemieux loves historical fiction, nonfiction and a good southern gothic.

“Fantasy was a genre I never thought I would ever consider reading. I had a lot of preconceived notions that I wouldn’t be able to take it seriously,” Walzideh said. “Oh man, for anyone who hasn’t tried it, I say give it a shot.”

Giving back to the community

Lemieux and Walzideh also love giving back to the community, particularly aspiring writers. Talking Animals Books is the official bookseller for the North Texas Teen Book Festival at the Irving Convention Center. In 2025, there were 15,000 attendees, and they sold over 10,000 books.

“Every person that we have met or worked with or supported has reciprocated the same amount of love for our journey,” Walzideh said. “We love supporting local authors who are excited to get their books into people’s hands. We love supporting our local library by offering discounts to people that buy books for them. We love the business owners up and down our little Main Street and their enthusiasm for Grapevine.

“I knew that bookstores were a sort of hub for the community, but had no idea how many opportunities we would have to give back, helping Grapevine to remain the jewel that it is. The friendships and the connections and conversations we have had since the day we opened our doors are genuinely what brings us joy.”

And yes, they do have “The Chronicles of Narnia” in their store.