About two months ago, I discovered the awesomeness that is the Starred Items feature on Google Reader. I’d seen the feature before, but always ignored it, not knowing just how convenient it could be. Basically, if you read a post that’s helpful or that you like or want to come back to for some reason, in your Reader, you click on the star icon at the bottom of the post, and it’s added to your Starred Items queue. Super convenient. I have no idea why I haven’t used it until recently.

So, what have I starred recently? Here are the last five posts I’ve added to the queue:

1. An Open Letter to Agents by Courtney Milan  I love Courtney’s blog. I started following her when she self-published her novella because she talks about all the changes in the industry in an intelligent, informed, and non-angry way. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m fascinated by those changes. I want to learn as much as possible about publishing, but I don’t like reading rants about the industry. Courtney’s take on everything is level-headed and honest.

2. My Favorite WordPress Plug-Ins Part 1 by Fiction Vixen: Because my website is hosted by WordPress, I read this post with interest. I saved it for later because I want to install the Pick a Winner plug-in. I just did that today after scanning through my starred items and reading this again. I’ll try that plug-in out on the next contest I run on my blog.

3. Make Courtney Pay by Courtney Milan: Another post from Courtney. I’m not quite sure why I starred this one, though. Maybe because I thought it was a really cool prize for a contest.

4. Couponing 101 & a Giveaway from Ross at SITSGirls: This is a social media networking site geared towards women. It has tips for networking and promoting your business. I’ve found a good number of social networking ideas on this blog. Some of them I have to tweak so it fits with what works in publishing, but there’s definitely some good stuff at this site. I starred this one on my iphone because a friend of mine is doing the whole extreme couponing thing, and I wanted to send her the link when I got back to my computer.

5. 10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Grow Your Email List at ProBlogger: I heard about ProBlogger last year at my local RWA chapter’s monthly meeting. He blogs about how to blog, and while some of the posts on this site are way too lets-make-money for my tastes, there are usually one or two posts a week that I can adapt into ideas to use for book promo. I starred this one because I knew I’d be sending out my first newsletter soon and I had zero subscribers. BTW, if you want to get that first newsletter, you can subscribe here.

Anyone else use the Starred Items or a similar feature on their feed readers? If so, what were the last five items you starred?