My Top 10 Top 10s of '11

Lots of 2011 “best of” or “top ten” lists are coming out these days; it’s kind of a year-end tradition in the Internet age. I’ve already posted my top books of the year [2], but I thought it would be helpful or at least interesting to list some of these other lists--a top ten of top tens, if you will.

The lists I mention below come from a Christian perspective when possible and fall into three major categories: books, news stories, and tech. I’ve grouped them by category, but otherwise in no particular order.

Books

1. 2012 Christianity Today Book Awards [3] - Don’t be deceived by the title: this is, in fact, a list about the best books published in 2011. Out of the 390 titles that were submitted to them, CT’s judges chose what they think is the best book in each of ten categories. (They end up with two ties and eleven honorable mentions, but I’m still counting it as a top ten).
2. The Gospel Coalition’s 2011 Staff Recommendations [4] - Collin Hansen, Kathleen Nielson, John Starke, and Andy Naselli each give you their three favorite titles from 2011. They also give you a mini-review of each book or at least explain why it made their list.

News Stories

3. Albert Mohler’s Ten Leading News Stories of 2011 [5] - Mohler compiles and recaps, in no particular order, the year’s biggest news stories as he sees them.
4. Christianity Today’s Top 10 News Stories of 2011 [6] - This list is specific to the Christian world. It’s brief and quick to read, but includes plenty of links for more information.
5. Collin Hansen’s Top 10 Theology Stories of 2011 [7] - Hansen’s list, like CT’s, sticks with stories that pertain to the church or are from the church’s perspective. He offers something unique and helpful, though, in the way he looks at the theology that relates to each of these stories. He includes lots of links to his and others’ related material.
6. Brainstorm’s Top Ten Religion and Politics Stories of 2011 [8] - This list is a look back that tries to look forward. The author asks, “What were the biggest American politics and religion stories of 2011 and how might they play out in the presidential campaign of 2012?”
7. Associated Press Top Stories of 2011 [9] - Every year Associated Press polls their editors to find their top news stories of the year. Their picks range from the death of Bin Laden to the beginning of the Occupy movement.

Tech

8. Technolog’s Top 10 tech stories of 2011 [10] - Technolog highlights and gives a good summary of the 10 technological happenings that affected the world this year. Lots of links for further reading.
9. Washington Post’s Top tech stories of 2011 [11] - This list is similar to Technolog’s but covers 30 rather than 10 stories (I know, I know--this is supposed to be a top ten of top tens). The summaries are concise, though, and presented in a slideshow format, which makes them a good way to just give them all a skim.
10. Google’s Zeitgeist 2011 [12] and Yahoo’s Top 10 Searches in 2011 [13] - OK, so I’m really squeezing two into one here. Both of these are lists of the top ten terms searched on their respective search engine, so it seemed doable. On both sites they give more of the story behind each of the terms, as well as other “year in review” content.