A lot of my reading, however, is online.
In addition to Google Reader, I rely on Longform, which I consider the best curator of excellent nonfiction articles. The editors do a wonderful job selecting only high-quality, in-depth articles.
Sometimes, I get frustrated with Longform because I can’t seem to skip any articles. They’re all good. The articles come from varied sources, which prevents me from sticking to my tried-and-true.
The downside is that there’s never enough time to read all the articles, especially in one sitting. That’s why I’m happy that Longform has teamed up with several read later services, like Instapaper and Read It Later. From Longform’s website, you can immediately save an article for later.
My favorite of these services is Readability. Like Instapaper and Read It Later, Readability lets you save articles for later reading. You click a button, and the service compiles a list of articles for you that you can read on your computer, phone, Kindle, or tablet. I also like that it’s free.
The most impressive aspect of Readability — and the feature that sets it apart from the others — is that it’s beautiful. The service converts web articles into a distraction-free reading experience. Gone are the ads and other annoying pop-ups that clutter up the screen.
I’ve even found myself using Readability with Diigo to annotate the articles I read. Readability provides the clean reading experience, while Diigo lets me highlight and take notes.
As a big-time nonfiction reader, I highly recommend Longform and Readability. Instead of worrying that I’m missing key articles, I trust that I’m getting the best the web has to offer.