As I just posted over on Mashable, Google Reader has just added several features that are awesome for those of us that share items.  The key additions:

1. A bookmarklet that lets you share any web page in Google Reader, regardless of whether or not that item has an RSS feed.  This makes Google Reader sharing just like submitting something to del.icio.us or Digg, but easier … and better, in many ways.  There is a third-party bookmarklet that does something similar that I described a couple weeks ago, but this is way easier to use and will put the functionality right in the face of all GReader users.
2. Notes that you can attach to your shared items.  This lets you describe why you shared something, and also leave a comment about why it’s cool.  We’re currently investigating to see if this data goes into your shared item feed, in which case, maybe we can do something with it
3. Shared items are much easier to identify.  You now see a little user pic right in the “list view” which means you know it’s a shared item, and not a duplicate/random item.  Also, if you have particular link bloggers you follow more closely than others, it gives you more of a reason to click the headlines.

We’re still digesting this news here at ReadBurner, but on the surface, it’s a big step forward for shared items that I think is going to lead to (1) a lot more people sharing (2) a lot more items being shared and (3) a greater diversity of sources and types of stories since you can now share any web page.  We’re really glad to see the GReader team paying attention to users and what they want, and excited about the implications of these new features!

A few more details and minor updates are available on the Google Reader team blog.