Hmm that's irritating. Having to fight with it while trying to draw is a pain!
Re: my fave sketchbooks, depending what I'm using, I like Seawhite and Art Gecko for drawing, ink, dry media, very light washes. They do hardback casebound and seem to stay open and reasonably flat in my experience.
For watercolour I'm buying 100% cotton ones - Etchr are good, but there are some Etsy folk who make excellent ones.