Well, 2005 is coming to end.  Let’s hope 2006 is a little better.  Hopefully there won’t be any city-destroying hurricanes, devastating earthquakes, or terrorist attacks.  With the year coming to an end, all of the "best of" lists are starting to surface.

Barnes & Noble has put together a list of the top-selling books for 2005.  It’s an interesting list that includes the likes of Harry Potter, 1776, Freakonomics, and You, the Owners Manual.  It was also interesting see that people are still buying The DaVinci Code in enough numbers to keep it in the Top 10.

There were no real surprises in the film area.  Revenge of the Sith was the highest grossing film of 2005.  Followed by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, War of the Worlds, Wedding Crashers,  and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  There’s all this whining about what a disastrous year this has been for Hollywood, but so far the 2005 box office has pulled in $8.1 billion.  Granted, it’s the first decrease in ticket sales since 1991, but come on!

The television season is only about half completed, but there are still no suprises.  CSI and Desperate Housewives remain the two most-watched shows on network television.  If I had to pick a surprise in the top 5, it would be Grey’s Anatomy, which has been drawing steady ratings even when DH has been a repeat (and they have been chosen to follow the Super Bowl — a major vote of confidence by ABC).  Commander in Chief is the highest rated new show of the season so far, but it’s ratings have slowly deteriorated so it will be interesting to see if Stephen Bochco and can turn it around.

According to Feedster, the most visited blog was something called Endgadget, which I’ve never heard of before now.  It’s followed by Boing Boing, TV Squad (a recent discovery for me and one I enjoy reading daily), Daily Kos, and Download Squad (again a new one to me).  I really don’t know how inclusive this list is, but the highest rated Conservative blog is Michelle Malkin at #8.

According to CNET, the top 10 must-have gadgets for 2005 include the Sony PSP, the Xbox 360, and the 60GB, black video iPod.  I’m not much of a gamer so the first two mean little to me, but I own that exact same iPod and I love it!

I’m sure there are more, but I have better things to do than look for 2005 top-lists.