I realized that the NookTouchTools apk still works for remapping the side buttons, so I installed it without any issues. Can't remap the n button yet, but I mapped my right buttons to Back and Menu.
I installed
Relaunch and was surprised as how useful it is as a launcher! I don't really need widgets, and it shows me things like battery, wireless, memory, etc, while giving an app tray, favorites, file browser, and more. It was last updated a month ago, so I hope the developer keeps it up. The good news is that I can map it to the "Home" button that pops up on the n menu. Yay! Home, Menu, Back all covered.