Image by adria.richards via Flickr

1. Login LockDown — adds extra security to WordPress by restricting the number of failed login attempts.

2. SexyBookmarks — sure, there are many ways to add lists of sharing icons and links to your posts — but this one is pretty.

3. wp-Typography — easily improve the typography on your site, em and en dashes, hyphenation, and much more.

4. WP Greet Box — give a simple little welcome message to visitors coming via various referrers, like Stumbleupon or Digg.

5. WP Minify — compress CSS and Javascript to speed up page loads. It can be a little tricky — I find I have to specifically exclude all 3rd-party scripts and stylesheets — but it’s highly effective.