Blogs and Feed Readers
In order to test out the best feed reader for my purpose, which is to follow education and library-related blogs, I created accounts for each of the following blogs. Here are the results of my research:
Good News (https://goodnews.click/)
As the name indicates, it's more for news, but you can add your own sites you would like to follow. Unfortunately, it would not load the blog that I added. It automatically subscribes you to several news sources in your feed. This was not suited for my purposes since I was not looking to follow the news. Also, the reader is was web-based only with no mobile app available.
NewsBlur (https://newsblur.com/)
This reader has a very busy home screen, including a statistics panel on how many sites you subscribe to and other Newsblur stats. It also has a panel for quick access to change settings, which was nice. You can read the original full article easily, and can include email newsletters in your feed. The reader limits you to looking at one site at a time on the free version, and I think this somewhat defeats the purpose of having a feed reader with all blog sites combined into one fee. There is a mobile app available.
Feeder (https://feeder.co/reader)
The format of this reader is nice, but it only allows you to follow 10 feeds for free. There is a mobile app available, and the web version has a simple layout that is allowed aligned vertically. You also have the ability to invite users to team, which is a nice feature for sharing articles. Different formats are available for the feed with free version, but changing color themes is paid only. The site's free options are very limited, which let me to pass on this one.
Feedreader (https://feedreader.com/)
This site is all free with no paid options. The layout is very simple, and you can have either the expanded full article in the stream or a collapsed view with only the title. This site is web-based only and does not have a mobile version, which is why I decided against using it.
Inoreader (https://www.inoreader.com/)
The free version gives you the ability to follow 150 feeds, is searchable with a personalized dashboard and podcast player, but it does have ads. The paid version allows email newsletters to be included in your feed and includes more automation, the ability to form teams, include Twitter and Facebook feeds, and many other options. There are varying levels of paid subscriptions depending on what options you prefer. I did like the feed since it shows a lot of articles in one view in a tile format, and you can easily click to see the full article. You can also flip back and forth between articles while in the full view mode. A nice feature is a recently read section to easily go back to past articles. Inoreader does have a mobile app available.
Feedly (https://feedly.com/i/welcome)
Feedly brags about their AI bot named "Leo" that prioritizes certain topics from your feed and learns your preferences based on keywords. This site has free and paid options, and a mobile app is available. The free site allows you to follow 100 feeds organized into 3 folders. When adding blogs to follow, the site auto populates the blog name when typing in the web address, it prompts you to organize sites into folders as you add them, and it suggests similar blogs you might also like based on what other followers subscribe to. The "all" feed is organized similarly to email, showing the blog source, title, and date, which you can then click on to read. Depending on the article, it may show the whole article or prompt you to view it on the original blog site. The feed shows differently if you select a single blog source--it gives more detail as well as images. You can switch between light and dark themes depending on your preference.
Inoreader and Feedly were my top two favorites. I ended up choosing Feedly because I liked the fact that it provided suggestions for pages you might like to subscribe to based on the blogs you already subscribe to. I also like Feedly's vertical display better than Inoreader's tile-style display.
Some of the blogs I included on my Feedly feed include the following:
The Distant Librarian (distlib.blogs.com)
This blog is written by an academic librarian and includes a variety of different library-related topics, including technology tips, digital resources, book suggestions, library marketing and many more. I included this blog in my feed because of the wide variety of different topics included in the blog.
Ms. Yingling Reads (msyinglingreads.blogspot.com)
This blog is very active and includes many detailed book reviews for the middle grades. Each review gives suggestions of other similar books. I thought this would be an additional source to find new books besides the standard review journals, and the reviews are from a working librarian's perspective.
The Library Voice (vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com)
To quote the site itself, it is "a place to be heard through creating, technology, connecting, reading, collaborating, and noise." There is a variety of different posts, including contests, information about conferences, how to use different digital tools, and many more. I thought this was a well-rounded blog with highly relevant posts.
Ebscopost (ebsco.com/blogs/ebscopost)
In addition to content related to their products, this blog by EBSCO gives information on other digital resources, suggestions for library programming, and other topics. I subscribed to this blog because it appeared to be a good source for online resources.
Teen Librarian Toolbox (teenlibrariantoolbox.com)
This blog is by School Library Journal and includes book reviews, suggestions for library activities and content, and other topics focused on YA readers. I subscribed to this one since it is a reputable source with useful information.