The Italics Quandry

I was reading a book this past week that used italics with a higher frequency than I normally see. You know, things like, "Was he looking at me?" When I'm reading a sentence with italics, I put emphasis on that word in my head, which, for whatever reason, often involves me sticking my head out as I read that word. I'm not sure why this happens. Please tell me I'm not the only one?

Now, I have nothing against italics. I use them myself, but usually as a placeholder. Whenever I'm revising, I look at that italicized word and try to figure out a way to convey what the italics accomplish with words. In a way, it seems like a classic case of showing vs. telling. Italics, to me, feel like they are telling the reader, pay attention to me - I'm important because I am italicized. Sometimes, though, I'll admit - I can't find a way to put the right emphasis on a word as well as italics do.

In the case of this particular book, I caught myself twitching a little each time I read an italicized word even though I really enjoyed the book as a whole.

So I'm wondering, am I alone in this? What are your italics thoughts?