Strange thoughts for sure. I'd never thought of unread books being that much of an asset. I do more writing than reading at the moment - though I read a lot online throughout the course of my day.

You remind me of my ex's father and grandparents. The grandparents moved from a large house in London to a small flat in Oxford. There were comments at the time about how many THOUSAND books were removed from the house!

His father was dating after the death of his wife. He, at one point, was seeing someone seriously enough to have us come and join them for dinner. I took one look around the house and knew it could not last - there were no BOOKS!!! (I turned out to be right.)

Almost forgot to tell you...
I found your post thanks to @cicisaja's Pay it Forward curation contest entry! Keep up the great work!