I the latest issue of American Woodturner there's an article about turning a 10" salad bowl from a wet log in 24 hours - he microwaved it for an hour or two to dry it then turned it then let it dry in a warm oven.
He settled on avocado as the best wood for it because "when a log of it is cut in half, it does not crack for some time... it has a low density, a fine cell size, turns easily, and has moderate to high shrinkage." I can't tell you anything about it as a tonewood, but it's BEAUTIFUL, at least as far as my taste in woods goes. To me it kind of looks like a warmer maple, but without the dark lines between dark/light grain sections. It has a very nice lustre, as well.