Agree with your second paragraph, but for some books, I've gotten too used to being able to look up words/topics directly from the ebook. I find myself annoyed I can't long press a word with a physical book.
I then end up grabbing my phone and looking up the word/topic, and then it's back to the electronic device that I was trying to get away from with the paper book.
Something that's helped me with this is having my phone nearby so I can use voice commands to get word definitions. No need to touch the device and get sucked in but all the ease of an ebook. Of course this only works in more private locations I suppose.
Good idea, but I think it might work better if you had an Android device. Siri is not great at definitions and you often have to literally spell things out for her. (if she hears you at all and doesn't start randomly calling your aunt instead of providing a definition)
I've tried this, but I find the screen refresh of e-ink displays very distracting. I also prefer scrolling text when reading vs. flipping virtual pages - which limits me to non e-ink displays.
I just created a Reading Focus mode on my iPhone that automatically limits the number of apps available / notifications visible when I'm reading. We'll see how this works.
I then end up grabbing my phone and looking up the word/topic, and then it's back to the electronic device that I was trying to get away from with the paper book.