Truth or Lie? - Month 4 Round Up

Welcome back to yet another monthly recap of Truth or Lie? 

I really hope you enjoyed reading all the posts this month and that you were playing along at home, even if you weren't commenting live! 

Let's see who topped our guessing leaderboard this month, and therefore winning themselves a paperback of their choice. If you did guess but aren't on this board, then its because you didn't get any correct, but better luck next time!

Congratulations to Ali - The Dragon Slayer, turns out if you take wild guesses each week, the odds are you will get some right, and Ali managed 1 correct on each of the weeks. 

In fact Jan Ellis in joint second also got 1 correct each week she took part, not counting the week she was a contestant! 

And special mention to Kendra who guessed all of Anne Hamilton's lies correctly. 

Well done Ali, please get in contact with which book you would like. 

Now the moment  I'm sure you have all been waiting for!

The Lies Revealed!!!


Week 1- I had Nancy Holland as my guest, and she had some great lies. So here is the truth! 

Question 8 - Besides reading, which I am guessing is a given, what other hobbies do you have?

[Truth] When I have time, I love to knit and crochet, although I live where the summers can be very hot and muggy, so it's a bit of a seasonal thing.

[Lie] I'm a rock climber.

Question 10 - What is your guilty pleasure when it comes to music? 

[Truth] Metallica -- my son introduced me to them,  and the raw power of their music is amazing.

[Lie] Opera, especially Wagner

Question 12 - If you won the lottery, how would you spend the money?

[Truth] First on a condo near the beach in California (see above), and then on a year-long tour of Europe -- or maybe the other way around.

[Lie] I'd buy a Tesla and a big house in Florida

Week 2- I had Jan Ellis, I wonder how many of you she bamboozled?

Question 3 -  If you could only read one author for the rest of your life (and I’m aware that’s a very scary world), who would you choose and why?

LIE Enid Blyton, because her stories remind me of my childhood.

TRUTH If I'm going to have to read him or her for several decades (hopefully), the books should be complex and interesting, so I'll take George Eliot.

Question 5 - What is your dream job, and have you tried to achieve it?

LIE In my twenties I really wanted to drive a London bus, but I failed the driving test.

TRUTH When I was eleven I wanted to be a holiday rep, but as someone who hates travelling in groups that was a non-starter.

Question 8 -  What is your guilty pleasure when it comes to music? 

LIE One word: Kajagoogoo. I used to have my hair like Limahl's.

TRUTH I love Benny Hill's 'Ernie' (The Fastest Milkcart in the West). Available on YouTube!

Week 3 brought us Anne Hamilton, and her very comprehensive answers, but did that make it easier or harder for you to pick up on the lies?

Question 2 - What book do you wish you had written?

(LIE) Mervyn Peake’s The Gormenghast Trilogy. I first read this, reluctantly (it’s fantasy – not my thing – and very thick) a good few years ago after a friend raved about it. Much against my will, I was completely converted by the end of Ch3. I actually even reviewed it, which is not something I routinely did in those days, and I can still remember writing ‘it makes me want to write a novel that has this effect on all its readers’.

(TRUTH) I didn’t get past Ch3 of Gormenghast; fantasy is still not my thing. I wish I’d written Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca. I never tire of it.

Question 4 - What was your most memorable holiday ever?

(LIE) I was twelve and on my first ever school exchange. It was to Stavanger (Norway) and I’d never met my penpal, Ewa, before. I really didn’t want to go because I’d told ferocious lies in my letters (basically made up the person I wished I was) and I knew I couldn’t keep it up. When I arrived, her mother took me to their apartment in the city, although Ewa had told me she lived on a ranch in the countryside… Turns out she’d made up even more than me. We both confessed and had a fabulous time; we’re still friends now.

(TRUTH) I’ve only been to Stavanger once for a conference. My most memorable holiday was a trip on the Venice-Paris Orient Express.

Question 8 - Besides reading, which I am guessing is a given, what other hobbies do you have?

(LIE) I play the guitar - badly. And I sing along (old Seekers hits mostly) which is probably even worse, but I don’t care because there is nobody else to hear me. I used to like playing the piano, but can’t get one up the stairs of a third floor tenement flat.

(TRUTH) I can’t play the guitar but I want to learn. It’s true about the piano. As for real hobbies, I’ve got out of the habit of doing anything non-work, non-parenting related so my indulgence is cooking programmes on TV – I want to marry Nigel Slater for his kitchen and garden.

And finally Week 4 we had Camilla Isley as our contestant! 

Question 2 - What book do you wish you had written?

Lie: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. This is one of my favourite classics. I love everything about it, the story, the struggle, the characters. Heathcliff had me fascinated since I was a teenager. I re-read this book at least once a year.

Truth: I think this book is the most wrongly overrated book in history. I didn’t like anything about it, story, characters, nothing! Heathcliff gives me the creeps. I read this book once and I’m never wasting precious reading time re-reading it.

Question 3 - What was your most memorable holiday ever?

Lie: The island of Santorini in Greece. The island is beautiful, the Mediterranean Sea special, and everything just aligned to perfection during this vacation. Perfect hotel, perfect weather, and great food.

Truth: Ok, Santorini definitely wasn’t my worst vacation ever, but neither the best. Why? Because… Did you know that as a Volcanic Island some of the beaches are actually made of iron residue? I didn’t; not until I sat on the beach and burned my bun. Because try leaving a piece of iron in the sun in August and then sit on it. It’s not fun. How I found out? See evidence number one: grains of iron attached to my backpack magnetic clip.

Then Santorini is also very windy and the water very cold. 

Also the island’s power plant burned down while we were there, so it was a three day black out after that :( not very comfortable…

Question 7 - Besides reading, which I am guessing is a given, what other hobbies do you have?

Lie: My biggest passion besides reading and writing is running, I’m currently training for my first half-marathon. My dream is to one day run (and finish) the New York marathon.

Truth: I’m mostly a couch potato. I can survive a Jillian Michaels DVD after the first week of training, but please don’t make me run. I’d be out of breath in three minutes. I hate running.