There's something about a good book that appeals to me. An attention-grabbing subject or intriguing plot is the biggest draw, of course, but I'm talking about the actual, physical page-turning, cover-bound, paper-and-print copy of a book.

Today's fast-paced gadget culture is programmed beautifully for ease of use, but the Nooks and Kindles out there are not without their drawbacks. The problem with all this user-friendliness, especially for me, is it's far too easy to for me to peruse my way into total distraction.

Most of my day is spent reading through emails and websites smash-and-grab style, picking out main bullet points and moving on. When I do get a chance to slow down, breathe and settle into a good book, I have to do it with an actual print copy or else nothing gets accomplished.

Putting an e-reader in my hands does nothing to keep me focused. These slick little tablets remind my information-foraging mode too much of a laptop or smartphone. Instead of whittling down my reading list, I end up on a quest to assemble a laundry list of "Books I Really Should Get Around To Reading" that's less of a manageable pile of literature (see the above to-do stack) and more of something that resembles my 400-deep Netflix queue.

Yes, access to all the free public domain books I can get my hands on is appealing, but again, all I'll end up with is a good-looking collection and a longer to-read list at the expense of however much e-readers go for these days.

Plus, I drop things a lot, and books don't get spider cracks.