Though touch makes the Nook easy to navigate, occasionally where you can swipe and where you can't isn't always clear. For example, you can swipe through some modules in the bookstore, down on some pages, but not on others. For the most part, this is stuff you'll learn through trial and error.

You can turn pages by tapping on either the left or right side of the screen; or you can swipe left to right (and, on some screens, even vertically) to change pages, too. While reading, tap at the top of the screen to reveal a status bar--the bar will show battery status, a clock, and a tap-to-add bookmark; it will also reveal the same book navigation buttons you'd get if you tap in the center of the page. The buttons jump you to the table of contents, let you search for a word or passage within a book, go to a specific page within a book using a slider (and kudos to B&N for including here just how many pages are left in the chapter), or adjust text options (choose from six not-so-different fonts and seven very different font sizes). The "more" option was confusing, though: I'm already in the book, and reading it, so why would I want to go to the book's profile from the Shop, showing editorial content, reviews, and related titles? I get the share and LendMe options as being appropriate while reading, but the rest of this menu option left me puzzled.

Similarly, I found it annoying that in the interface, I'd often have to move my hand all the way up to the top to find the X to close out of a page. Practically all other on-screen navigation is in the lower half of the screen, which made that finger travel feel inefficient.

Beyond that one interface annoyance, though, I was largely impressed by the B&N's otherwise clean, logical software design. B&N clearly gave some thought to the layout, and to how things operate. The interface is good, at times even great--but not perfect.