Death to Google Reader

When I heard Google Reader was biting the dust July 1, I found myself going through the stages of grief. There was denial, continuing my daily online trek to my beloved Reader and ignoring the pop-up reminding me that the end was at hand. I had time and thought that maybe there would be uproar enough to cause them to keep it after all.

Then there was anger. Why, Google? Why would you take away my dear friend who brings me my favorite blogs instead of hopping from blog to blog to blog? What am I? An animal? Nothing will ever be as good as my Reader!

Afterward was bargaining and depression, ending up with me in a sorrowful heap, unable to find a suitable replacement for the Reader-shaped hole in my heart.

But here I am on the acceptance side. Much like the inner turmoil that overwhelms us all when Facebook redesigns, all the Reader transition required was a little time to get used to something new. So, to keep you from spiraling into a deep despair, here are two options I've toyed around with and find a good replacement.

Feedly

Feedly was the first Reader alternative I tried and is ultimate the one I've ended up using regularly. When I started using it, it required a plug-in, but it's now completely Web-based. That, however means little to me. I just wanted it to provide me the blogs in order from newest to oldest, not lumping them together by source as I'd seen some other RSS readers do. Feedly does just that. It has a clean look to it and is easy to navigate and understand. Plus you can choose a newspaper-esque view or one more image centric (like I like). You can also import your Google Reader list into it, so there's no need to add every single blog or site you follow to it.

Bloglovin'

My second favorite option is Bloglovin'. It's similar to Feedly in design, ease of use, importing your Reader list, etc. I'm just sticking with Feedly because it's what I found first. One feature I like though is the popular blogs tab, so you can discover new blogs to follow and enjoy.

I hope these will help you find your next Google Reader love and make the transition a little less emotionally scarring. If you would like to follow me on Bloglovin', there's a handy dandy little button in the sidebar you can click to do so. Whatever RSS you choose, I hope we stay connected!

I'll see you on the other side! (Maybe this is like the whole Y2K thing and nothing will actually happen. But it's good to be prepared, whether it's finding a new reader or collecting thousands of cans of creamed corn.)