Books read over vacation

I got into the zone...and read 6 books. Several I speed read (sped red?). I can read very very fast when either the book is only semi interesting or not worth so much time (eg. romance novels), or it has too much detail I don't want to read.

Finished:

In a Sunburned Country - Bill Bryson. I've been reading it for a while. I like his books/writing and it's full of interesting information about Australia, but I can only take so much of his writing at one time. Read in snatches. Couldn't/didn't want to speed read.

Read entirely:

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (now a major motion picture). Excellent. Very poetic. I read it way too fast and have to read it again. Best read in chapters - read, put down, read, put down.

Something Blue - Emily Giffen. Good, quick, sped red read. I thought it went on a little too long in her ditzy phase, and she changed too quickly, but it showed a nice evolution of character.

Sammy's Hill - Kristen Gore. Sped red. It made me laugh out loud at points. If you like a cross between a primer on health care policy and Bridget Jones' Diary and a mystery, you'll like it.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier - Ishmael Beah. Excellent. Difficult to digest at times reading first hand about the things that went on in Sierra Leone. I think one of the reasons he survived/can write the book is because he was on the 'good' side, ie not the rebels, who committed even worse atrocities.

A Child Called 'It'- David Peltzer (and the second book in the series). Definitely sped red. Reading every detail of the horrific abuse by his mother (not sexual, but almost everything else) was not necessary. It happened in the 70's when things where just starting to be 'openly' addressed. It provides resources at the end, which is great.