Some personal favorites:

Best album: Takk, by Sigur Rós. Honorable mention to Man-Made, by Teenage Fanclub and Illinois, by Sufjan Stevens.

Best song: “Glósóli,” by Sigur Rós. Honorable mention: “Sweet Troubled Soul,” by Stellatarr.

Best movie: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Honorable mention: March of the Penguins.

Best book, nonfiction: The Heritage Guide to the Constitution. Honorable mention: Women Who Make the World Worse, by Kate O’Beirne (it would place higher, but technically it’s a 2006 book).

Best book, fiction: I didn’t read any novels that were published in 2005, and the fault lies with Steve Hamilton, because he’s taking his sweet time writing his next one. Honorable mention: Tales, by H.P. Lovecraft, even though he’s been dead since 1937 (it’s possible to get HPL books in many varieties, but the new Library of America edition is the classiest).