Tauranga independent bookstore Books a Plenty has been recognised in a national competition.

Entrants were asked to write a ‘love letter' to their favourite bookshop, with winner Marcus Hobson choosing Books a Plenty.

There were 550 entries into the competition from all over New Zealand, which was narrowed down to 20 finalists.

Lead judge Peter Biggs CNZM says he chose Marcus' letter because 'it is truly an encomium of bookshops and why they are so important.”

'He captures, insightfully and beautifully, why bookshops are special places. They don't just stock and sell books, they enable us and our souls to go on wonderful journeys of exploration.”

Marcus wins $500 in NZ Book Tokens, which are valid in 70 per cent of bookshops nationwide.

'I am so pleased that what I managed to put into words has been spotted for what it was – a heartfelt message about one of life's true passions,” says Marcus.

'The love of all you can find in a bookshop.”

Books a Plenty co-owners Chris and Warren Baskett were happily surprised with the news.

'I have met [Marcus] before. He's not a customer we see a lot of, but I do know who he is. It's very exciting for us,” says Chris.

She says his letter was lovely and she hopes the bookstore lives up to what he's written.

'We hope everything he's said is indicative of what we try to do as a service to book readers. It's like he encapsulated everything we strive to do.”

Marcus' winning letter:

Bookshops are gateways to a thousand other worlds, ten thousand imaginations and a million possibilities.

We can lose ourselves or find ourselves, find answers, find inspiration, or find just what we are looking for. We can even find that we were wrong.

Most of all, bookshops are a portal into the imaginations of writers, where not everything is real or as it seems, but where you can happily live for the next few days or weeks