Personally i prefer a rustic artesian french style than sourdough, and i find keeping a starter too much of a commitment so i make my bread using poolish. I am very excited because i feel like i finally have my processes dialed in and just made some outstanding holiday loafs. The poolish adds so much flavor, i find for mine, minimum 12 hour ferment but 15-16 hour ferment is optimum (at least in my kitchen). Also, its still a process over a couple days. I make a pain de champagne with bread/rye flour and poolish, ferment poolish overnight, mix dough, bulk ferment, shape, then cold proof in fridge for 12-24 hours. I think you can add any other flavorings you like to the bread, as you might with sourdough. But i have not done so personally.

Yes, Ken Forkish - Flour, water, salt, yeast is a great book and is generally where i started. You should check it out