2005 Year

"BEST books" lists have always seemed, to me, unnecessarily hierarchical, inimical to the way literature works. What are the best books, and how do we determine them? No, reading is a fluid activity, one in which we are often moved for reasons beyond logic -- reasons that have less to do with our brains than with our hearts. With this in mind, Book Review's editors are taking a more subjective approach to our year-end issue.

KANYE WEST, the rapper-producer who topped last year's Freshman Class, makes his presence known again by contributing to the success of two members of this year's class: R&B singer John Legend and "American Idol" winner Fantasia. Other entries in the annual salute to the year's most noteworthy pop arrivals include the radical cabaret sensibilities of Antony and the Johnsons and the stark commentaries of a 42-year-old former restaurateur.

At a gilded moment that seems eons ago but was only mid-June, I wrote with great enthusiasm about the special election campaign then in the offing. The campaign, I observed, was bound to be a rich source of manna for famished newspaper columnists. In contented reverie, I anticipated spending the next few months snoozing in the yard "while ripe nuggets of electoral hypocrisy fall upon me from the skies, like pellets of guano." I wasn't disappointed. Who could be?

There's a new kind of buzz in Hollywood this week, the kind typically reserved for a guy named Oscar and his movie stars. But this time, surprisingly, it's all about television. Unlike movies, which have been in the doldrums, it's been a big year for the small screen, with viewers flocking to sexy new shows such as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost."

After Marc Jacobs' groundbreaking, darkly romantic fall collection, all eyes were on him this week as everyone wondered: What will he do next? Leading up to Monday night, many fashion insiders were also making side bets on how late things would start after last season's show was delayed an hour and a half, prompting an apology on the designer's website. Jacobs did not disappoint.

Every season, there comes a time during the fashion show circuit when people get cranky -- cranky about having to watch another collection of clothes made only to market the designer's perfume and handbags; cranky about another broadtail fur coat that costs more than most people's annual salary, not to mention what it costs the poor sheep; cranky about public relations assistants who, amazingly, exclude some journalists from shows, turning down what amounts to free publicity for their designer

A weak El Nino and human-made greenhouse gases could make 2005 the warmest year since records started being kept in the late 1800s, NASA scientists said this week. The warmest year on record was 1998, with 2002 and 2003 coming in second and third, respectively. Last year was the fourth-warmest, with a global mean temperature of 57 degrees Fahrenheit -- about 1.5 degrees warmer than in the middle of the century, NASA scientist Drew Shindell said.

A powerful blizzard crashed with all its fury Sunday on New England, shutting airports, closing highways, flooding streets in coastal communities, knocking out power and dumping what in some areas appeared to be a record 24-hour snowfall. The storm was accompanied by howling, hurricane-force winds that caused whiteout conditions and left snowdrifts that resembled frozen dunes. Ocean waves 30 feet high rolled over seawalls.

When we look at 2004, we find events and developments of greater-than-normal significance to travelers, including disasters, trends and economic changes. It's helpful in this, the first month of 2005, to review them and modify vacation plans accordingly.