My favorite way to catch up on websites has been to use Google Reader. Sadly Google has canceled this once-fine product, and it’s shutting down on July 1.

Several substitutes have emerged, and I’ve tried them all. My favorite is FeedBin. It costs $20 a year, and it’s well worth it. It’s got a very good web client, and it syncs with Reeder, my favorite iPhone feed reader.

It’s easy to export your feed list from Google Reader:

1. Click on the cog on the upper right
2. Click on “Reader Settings”
3. Click on the “Import/Export” tab
4. Click on “Download your data through Takeout”
5. Click “Create Archive”, and wait while it builds the file
6. Download the file to your computer, unzip the XML file within
7. In Feedbin, click on “Settings”
8. Click on “Import/Export”
9. Download your unzipped XML file

And like that, all your feeds are imported! Now is a great chance to go through them and remove the chaff that has accumulated over the years. Press ”?” at any time to see a list of helpful keyboard shortcuts.

Another option you may prefer is Feedly. Or maybe you want to give up on RSS feeds and just get our comics by email. Just remember to make your change before July 1!

On a related note, we are also switching the location of our feed from Feedburner to http://www.unshelved.com/feed. Please update your reader. The old address will continue to work until Google shuts that down too.