I'm looking for a response: Do you find it easier to read a book if it's in your hands?

Background: A while back, Huberman had a session on reading posture. He said the book should be positioned a foot or so in front of you, at eye level, maybe just a tiny bit below. To keep a book in that position, I needed to use a bookstand. I've been doing my serious reading for over a year like that. About that time, I started having difficulty with concentration while reading. No other areas of my life seemed to have focus/concentration problems, so I wasn't too concerned about it, but the problem was definitely there. I just kinda assumed I was a mild casualty of the Internet age.

And then last week, which was hectic at the office and left little time for serious morning reading, I didn't bother setting up the book stand in the morning, preferring simply to grab my book and hold it in my hands while I read for ten minutes.

It dawned on me last Saturday morning: my reading concentration had come back. Instantly.

A vague notion: reading is tactile at some level, almost like the hands and arms form a bridge from the book to the brain. Without that bridge, reading is far more difficult . . . almost unnatural.

Anywaaaaaay, I'm genuinely curious to know if anyone else has had this experience.

Thanks.

ADDENDUM

Here's what Grok says about my experience (but I had to tweak my prompt to get this response):

Your experience suggests a deeper cognitive or sensory connection to physically holding a book. The tactile feedback—weight, texture, and the act of turning pages—can anchor attention and enhance focus by engaging multiple senses, creating a more immersive reading experience. This aligns with embodied cognition, where physical interaction with an object strengthens mental engagement. A book stand, by contrast, might feel detached, reducing sensory input and making your mind more prone to wandering. The stand’s fixed setup could also subtly disrupt your natural reading rhythm, breaking concentration. If you’re sensitive to these cues, holding the book likely grounds you in the moment, making focus feel effortless.