A harder difficulty mode will be added in the next patch. The powerful weapons are a result of lowering the level requirements for some enchantments, which the random item generator also uses; they are also going to look at that for the next update.
You can get rid of most books, especially random lore books that show up in multiple places. By talking to the alchemist, enchanter and necromancer in Broken Valley (once you have found them), any alchemy or enchantment formulas or body parts will get added to their lists (not sure if you have to go into the appropriate function), and any remaining will be duplicates, and can be sold. I kept a list of the best body parts I found handy, so I could sell any lesser parts before talking to the necromancer, to keep his list from getting cluttered.
About a third of the way through the game you get a storage chest and the ability to respec your skills (the price to do so doubles each time; most people in D2:ED, if they respeced, did so once or twice, but there was a practical limit of about 4 respecs, or maybe 5 with a lot of gold farming).
I read reviews, but the details are the only things that matter, not the conclusion/score.
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