📚 3 Lessons Learned From Book Club

In this week's P.O. Box:

We’re entering the final month of the P.O. Box offseason book club.

It started as a simple goal to read more in 2024 and then I ratcheted up the stakes by offering a negative freeroll to readers if I failed.

Unfortunately for you guys looking to capitalize on my downfall, I’m still on track to get all 15 books read by Week 1 kickoff.

Here are a few takeaways and things I’ve learned along the way:

It Had To Become A Habit

There are simply too many distractions to expect that I would organically prioritize reading books throughout my week. I knew the one place I could regularly carve out time to read was before bed and the only way to assure I would read during that time was to make my Kindle the only device allowed in the bedroom. Since January 12, I have not had my phone in the bedroom.

Some nights I only read for a few minutes before my eyes collapse, while other nights I’ll read for 30-45 minutes. I would say 80% of my reading this year was done exclusively before bed. So if you’re looking for inspiration—that’s basically 12 books you could read in 8 months solely by pivoting nighttime doom scrolling to books.

Public Accountability Works 

I rarely pull this lever, but it’s highly effective. I did something similar last year when I was trying to get to 15K subs on my Youtube channel. Knowing I had the “bet” and that I needed to give updates on the books each week in this newsletter kept my feet to the fire. When I fell behind pace, I squeezed in extra reading during the day to avoid the embarrassment of failing.

It’s Much More Fun To Read As A Group

It feels like “book clubs” get a bad rap, as if they are reserved for old ladies or a group of girlfriends looking to expand their monthly group hang beyond Paint Night. But getting suggestions from you guys—at least 50% of the selections came directly from the crowd sourced form—made it way more enjoyable.

Even though the enthusiasm to discuss the books petered out in the Discord as drafting season ramped up, it was fun to get everyone’s thoughts. Special s/o to ‘illstrait29’ who has been in the mix discussing every book (and will be guest selecting one of our final books for August down below).

I don’t think I’ll keep a formal book club rolling during the season. It’s just too much work to curate and share on a regular schedule when the chips are flying, but I will definitely continue the nightly habit and will share anything particularly good that I’m reading.

The final two selections for August are down below…

🥶 Beat the Zero RB bros with this stealth counter strategy. Jakob Sanderson floated a counter strategy to beating Zero RB teams at their own game so we hopped in a Best Ball Mania V draft to see if we could execute his plan of attack. Check it out on the Deposit Kingdom channel.

🧠The Perfect Home League Draft. This week on Fantasy Life, I looked at Yahoo ADP and outlined what a juggernaut managed league team could look like.

🎡Randomizer Draft w/ Nick Ercolano. Nick from BDGE returns for his second bout with the Radnomizer wheel and tries to sell us on New York, gives a eulogy for Nick Chubb, and spins a wild conspiracy yarn about the Atlanta Falcons pick of Michael Penix Jr..

🥃 Best Ball After Dark w/ Nick Ercolano. Talked with Nick about the BDGE business, his trivia empire, organizing live events, and where he wants to put his energy going forward. Become a YT member to watch (top 2 tiers).

☕️Best Ball Breakfast: Hyperfragile RB FTW?!. Four more drafts on BBB this week, including ones with Shawn Siegele, Pat Kerrane, and special guest RotoPat. Topics discussed: 3 RBs through 5 rounds, the types of contingent RB value, training camp buzz, and late-round sleepers. Also: PREVIOUSLY ON BEST BALL BREAKFAST.

🏆️Fantasy Life roundup. This week in the FL Newsletter: Broncos RB battle, QB training camp updates, Bengals buzz, and Kendre Miller FUD.

☣️ WSOP Main Event Champ Jonathan Tamayo. We talked to the $10m man about the controversy surrounding his win and his background in DFS.

🚢 Chasing $300,000 In The FFPC Best Ball Tournament. The crew attack risky WRs and round out a 20-round draft in TE-premium with a bunch of TE sleepers.

🥊 Pete Goes Zero RB Value Hound (Pros vs. Joes Draft). Streamed an industry best ball pro contest on Sunday night.

🏃 FFPC Main Event Minisodes. Our premium series for YT Members where we record episodes while on the clock in our first high stakes draft of the year is underway. The kickoff ep (Outlining Our Strategy + OTC 1.06) and 2nd ep (A Surprise Faller + OTC 2.07 & 3.06) are posted.

💪The Swolecast Drafts A BBMV Team. The one where Tuttle returns and punts the WR position in a BBMV draft.

⏰A Massively Mispriced Backfield. This week on Off & On The Clock, we catch up on training camp news and analyze a couple of backfields with weird pricing before hopping in a BBMV draft where Jon definitely "accidentally" autos Kyle Pitts.

🍾 How High Is Too High For Marvin Harrison Jr. The other Settleman joins the club to fire off NFL and best ball hot takes.

📈Training Camp Movers & New Risers/Fallers (ADP Chasing). Kerrane, Davis, and Sam discuss the latest risers and fallers on Underdog Fantasy, including Jordan Addison and the Chiefs WRs, as well as the camp battles playing out in the Denver backfield and Packers WR room.

🤠 Book #13 for June (50%): True Grit by Charles Portis

Half way through this and really enjoying it. The “super smart kid” is always a fun character archetype and Portis takes full advantage inhabiting the mind of Mattie:

📆 August Selections:

🧠 Book #15 for August (FICTION): Paradise Sky by Joe R. Lansdale.

A rollicking novel about Nat Love, an African-American cowboy with a famous nickname: Deadwood Dick.

I asked illstraight29 from the Discord for this month’s selection. Here’s how he teed it up:

“Lansdale is one of my favorites and this is one of his I haven’t read. It’s been on my to-read list for years, so I figured this was as good a time as any. His books are always entertaining and I saw him at a book event last year and he said he considers Paradise Sky his best work.”

🧠 Book #15 for August (NON-FICTION): Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier by Kevin Kelly

A concise, witty collection of timeless life advice spanning relationships, careers, parenting, and cultivating kindness from the man who helped launch and edit Wired magazine.

I first heard Kelly talk about this book on Shane Parris’ (the author of our first selection) podcast, so seems fitting to close out the offseason book club with this.

✅Book #12 for July (COMPLETE): Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
✅Book #11 for June (COMPLETE): The Hunter by Tana French
✅Book #10 for June (COMPLETE): River of Doubt by Candice Millard
✅Book #9 for May (COMPLETE): The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
✅Book #8 for May (COMPLETE): Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
✅Book #7 for April (COMPLETE): Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
✅Book #6 for April (COMPLETE): The Trading Game by Gary Stevenson
✅Book #5 for March (COMPLETE): Recursion by Blake Crouch
✅Book #4 for March (COMPLETE): The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
✅Book #3 for Feb. (COMPLETE):Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk by Billy Walters
✅Book #2 for Feb. (COMPLETE): Chain Gang All-Starsby Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
✅Book #1 in Jan. (COMPLETE): Clear Thinking by Shane Parris

We did indeed set the world record last Friday:

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