My local station just played the walnut bookshelf episode and it was like deja-view (!) all over again. Back in November, I made a similar bookshelf, albeit of much simpler design. My wife wanted one to match her Fletcher desk and after seeing one on another show, I went to work.

Through tenons are still outside my comfort zone. But I did use solid walnut, thin pieces for the back, and only drilled a few shelf-adjustment holes. It was weird to see Tommy build one so close to what I came up with. Great minds think alike, though I don't know how this happened. Guess I've been making some progress...

http://www.westhillswood.com/bookshelf-plan.html

(Forgive the link, but I couldn't get an image to load on this post.)

looks great.

Did you balance the plywood panel with a backer veneer after you applied the walnut to the front face?

Not intentionally. I had made an outdoor sign for the Guitar Merchant store I share space with and this piece was a remnant of the exterior plywood used for that. It gives it a much cleaner look (though one doesn't see the backside much anyway).

The walnut I applied to it was just under 1/8 thick and had been sitting in the bin for a few months. I beveled the edges with a hand plane to highlight the seams.

Mine is much more basic that Tommy's, but the look and approach is so similar that I had to comment.

The back may start warping with veneer only on one side.

This should not be a problem as the plywood came with thick brown paper applied to both sides. It's meant to be painted and used outdoors. The piece is not large enough to induce much warping to begin with. Plus, each thin slice is independent of one another.

And no big deal if it does decide to get weird, I know a guy with a shop.