Add my name to the list of people who think characters shouldn't have any starter spells.
Yea, me too. Roughly half my characters so far (Oblivion and Skyrim) have no interest in magic, which means I have to ignore the starting spells at the beginning of their games. I'd rather have the
option of picking a handful of starter spells for characters that want them, but having an empty spellbook for those who don't want any starter spells.
Granted, I am in the process of learning about how to create Xbox mods (the ones we're not supposed to talk about) and I do believe it could be possible to start a Skyrim game on Xbox with a character who's lacking a starter spell book.