Most of the major news outlets have presented their “Year in Review” stories by now, so I’m posting my version here. I’m considering only movies and books because. . .well, it was rather a bad year. We won’t go there.

I saw 46 movies in 2007, on DVD and in theaters or shown on network TV. The genres ranged from animated to documentaries; some were based on true stories or adapted from novels; there were comedies and tragedies and others in between. Here are my top 6, in alphabetical order:

• Babel
• Blood Diamond
• Bridge to Terabithia
• Little Miss Sunshine
• October Sky
• Pan’s Labyrinth

I read 35 books in 2007, of which 18 were fiction — short stories, mysteries, classics, and modern novels — and 17 non-fiction, with subjects ranging from science and medicine to language and history. Here are my top 5, in alphabetical order:

• Coming Out of the Ice – Victor Herman
• Gilead – Marilynne Robinson
• Independence Day – Richard Ford
• Snow – Orhan Pamuk
• Team of Rivals – Doris Kearns Goodwin

I won’t post the complete lists; if you’re interested, please leave me a comment. And no, I don’t do the five stars thing. I don’t post reviews on Amazon and I don’t rate movies so that Blockbuster can recommend titles for me. I won’t even do the thumbs up or down thing, as I can find merit in almost any book or movie — otherwise, why even bother with it?