Every holiday season, there's always a ton of new products and new entertainment releases just in time to take advantage of the gift giving season. Despite a lackluster US economy, 2007 promises to be a strong year for consumer spending during the holiday season. Here's what's hot, or will be hot, this Christmas 2007:

Books

Books are always a hot seller during the holidays, though they are often not bought specifically as gifts, but as a gift for ourselves to enjoy over the winter holiday. Hot books this year include the Oprah's book club selection, Love In The Time Of Cholera, the latest novels from Patricia Cornwell, Alice Sebold, Laurel K. Hamilton, John Grisham, Ken Follett and Robert B. Parker. For kids, the Gossip Girl series as well as the latest from Nick Hornby look to sell well.

Toys

For toys, there's nothing hotter than WebKinz, racking up a Beanie Baby like following. Also look for the classics to be popular this season with names like Lego, Star Wars, Polly Pocket, Scooby Doo and the Care Bears selling their share.

Video Games

For video games, top sellers will include Halo 3, Mass Effect, Super Mario Galaxy, Assassins Creed, Guitar Hero 3, Rock Band, Call Of Duty 4, Madden NFL 08, Brain Age 2, Tabula Rasa, The Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Ratchet & Clank Future, Mario Party 8, Simcity Societies and Lego Star Wars II.

Movies

For DVD's this holiday season, the Planet Earth series from the Discovery Channel will be popular, as well as Transformers, 300, Ratatouille, Shrek The Third, Spiderman 3, Oceans 13, Live Free Or Die Hard and Pirates Of The Caribbean 3. Popular TV series sets include The Office, Lost, Heroes and High School Musical 2. High definition DVD's will also see stronger sales than last year.

Music

American Idol contestant releases abound with new releases from winners Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks looking to be hot sellers. Also look for the soundtrack to High School Musical 2 to continue strong sales for the holidays. In the rap field, look for Jay-Z to get alot of attention. For Christmas music, no one will top Josh Groban, whose new Christmas album, Noel, is already a top seller, but also look for the latest album by perennial Christmas music favorites Mannheim Steamroller. In the rock category, legends will dominate with new releases by Neil Young, John Fogerty and Eric Clapton.

Electronics

iPod's will continue to sell in the millions, especially with the new iPod Touch. Look for the iPod Touch and iPod Nano to show up under millions of trees this year. Laptop computers, surprisingly, have continued to go down in price and will see strong sales as holiday gift items. Some laptops will again be available for Black Friday and after Christmas sales at sub $400 and even lower.

Whatever gifts you choose, don't forget the old adage, "it's the thought that counts."