New Hero Alert! Welcome our new bookshop superstar Lizzy!

We’re excited to share that Hobsonville local and bookshop superstar Lizzy  has made Book Hero her full-time thing!

Lizzy is fast becoming the heart of our Hobsonville bookstore, with her passion for books flowing into everything from thoughtful book reviews in our newsletters, to helping customers in-store and online find their next great read.

As has become a Book Hero tradition - Lizzy will now introduce herself with a short Q&A plus kick-off a welcome sale featuring some of her favourite books!

Of course, the best way to get to know Lizzy is to pop in and have a chat at our Hobsonville bookstore. Until then, here’s a little snapshot of Lizzy through a few questions!

How would you describe your relationship with books?

Ever since being read to at bedtime - and then picking up my first novel on my own (Fantastic Mr Fox!), books have been a huge part of my life. As a teacher in the past, one of my favourite things was helping kids find a love in reading, and as a parent reading to my little one is a daily joy. Through a lot of life changes and stages books have helped me learn, escape, relax, dream, improve, and empathize. I truly believe books help make me a more curious and openhearted human being - they are such a treasure.

What inspired you to join the Book Hero team?

I’m a Hobsonville local and was so excited to see Book Hero pop up in the neighbourhood! It’s been such a delight to see them expand and grow and I have always been keen to find a way to join the team - I have to pinch myself that it’s finally happening!

What are your most recommended (or gifted) books?

I love this question because I annoy everyone around me with book recommendations, and I pretty much exclusively use books as gifts. It obviously depends on the person but some of my favourites to gift or recommend are Shark Heart by Emily Habeck (the most beautifully bizarre love story I’ve ever read), any poetry by Mary Oliver (my version of daily therapy), and Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman (the most incredible book on productivity I rave about all the time).

What do you love most about matching the right book to the right reader?

There is such satisfaction at being able to find a common thread with books someone has enjoyed before and something that might turn out to be a new favourite. A special shout out to being able to help a young reader find a new favourite series or author because I just want to help the next generation find as much love in books as I do. If you want a personalised book recommendation - please drop me an email!

What books are you most looking forward to in 2026?

SO MANY. There is new Meg Mason coming which I am incredible excited to read (Sophie Standing There), new Maggie O’Farrell which will no doubt be amazing (Land), and I am so excited for Operation Bounce House by Matt Diniman to come out because I’ve had a sneak early read and it’s going to be so fun once I get to hear from everyone else reading it too! 

What are you most excited about building with the Book Hero community in Hobsonville and beyond?

I can’t wait to get to know more of our local readers and find new books for them to love, but I’m also excited to help create more special book-ish events for us to all connect in person and talk more about the books we read! I also love creating engaging activities for kids so I’m thinking about fun bookish crafts we can do with all our littler readers too! 

What are some of Tilly’s favourite books? What books does Tilly insist you read every night?

She’s a bit like me in that she likes a huge variety but some of her favourites are anything by Julia Donaldson (especially the Smeds and the Smoos which we both adore!) and lately she’s also been loving the “You Choose” books by Pippa Goodheart and how interactive they are!