Much like my search for the perfect project management app, I have always searched for the perfect RSS feed reader. I have used a number of them over the years. For the longest time I used NetVibes, which is great, but I decided to scale back my information intake, so it was a bit more than I needed. I do enjoy a few of the paid RSS readers, but can’t bring my self to pay for them.

While I hunted for the perfect RSS reader I stumbled across some custom themes for Google Reader. I never really used the Google Reader because I hated the way it looked. It was just to comprate and depressing looking. However, these Google Reader themes I cam across really spice up its design, some of them even add some much appreciated functionality.

I could only find a few worth mentioning. I would be interested to hear if you know of any others.

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1. Feedly

If you dig the newspaper and magazine style RSS readers out there like Early Edition, you will probably appreciate this Google Reader theme. It sports a more newspaper like layout vs. a traditional blog reader layout. Works well if you only subscribe to a handful of blogs. Also includes developers ads.

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2. Helvetireader

This is arguably one of the more popular Google Reader themes out there. It was designed and developer by amazing Jon Hicks. If you appreciate minimalism and good aesthetics, this is the Google Reader theme for you.

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3. Pure Reader

The Pure Reader is one of the best Google Reader themes I have seen for those of you that subscribe to a large list of blogs. It uses a nice accordion style drop down in the sidebar to help you manage a plethora of RSS feeds nicely.

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4. Lucidia

Lucidia is another minimal Google Reader theme much like the Helvetireader theme by Jon Hicks. Its uses a minimal layout and is free of distraction, allowing you to focus on whats important, the content.

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5. Mac OSx Style

As the name suggests, this Google Reader theme has a style that many Mac users will be familiar with. According to Google search results, this may be the second most popular Google Reader theme out there.