Google Reader new Theme is awful in terms of usability. They are just trying to hide the way you work with it in favour of some BLING.
One thing that annoys me the most is all that empty unused features on the top bars! Solve it by your own hands you just need:
tip:
#top-bar { display: none; }
That’s it! Reclaim what google is breaking!
bonus tip:
If you don’t like the second bar:
#viewer-header-container { display: none; }
That kills it too!