Pat Hawks

dirtysuds

James Revillini

Add the shortcode <code>[postlist query="PostQuery"]</code> to a page to enable an unordered list of links to posts matching the query. 
Useful for designing custom homepages.

Postlist Shortcode

Adds shortcode [postlist] for embedding a list of posts into a page

stesvis

This plugin allows you to choose which post categories youe site will show on your frontpage. Just go to settings and deselect the categories that you want to hide. To display posts from other categories on other pages you need to upgrade to the <a href="http://wppluginspool.com/wp-filter-post-categories/" rel="nofollow ugc">FULL version</a>.

Frontpage category filter

Allows you to show on your frontpage only posts from the categories that you select.

Postlist Shortcode vs Frontpage category filter