The cursed abbey may be a little difficult until you are at least in the high teens for character level. If you have cleared the area around Aleroth and explored the farmlands and east of there, the next easiest area would probably be to the north east. After that, the north west area around the cursed abbey should be doable; the undead there are slow (easier to take out from a distance) and do poison damage (if you see any Spell Shield books for sale, buy them - poison damage comes off the shield and you do not jerk around). You can probably clear some of the area to the south, but the stronger orcs or trolls would be pretty tough at your level.
I cleared much of the first map before going to Verdistis, but there isn't really a reason to wait. Quests give more experience at a higher character level (defeating monsters gives more experience if you are at a lower level than your opponent), but you wouldn't want to put off completing quests just for that.
There is no need to keep most non-spellbooks. If someone specifically gives you a book, you should hang onto it, though, until it is needed.
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