Taming an Out of Control Bookshelf

My fiancee and I recently merged our belongings into one household. Needless to say, we have a lot of duplicates... dishes, kitchen utensils, furniture, the list goes on. So to preserve my sanity, as I'm a bit of a neat freak, we're having a garage sale. But even with a lack of shelf space, we both had a difficult time parting with our books. I finally got them all to fit in our one living room bookshelf, but it took some effort. Even with a lot of books, you can still add design to your shelves. Here are some ideas.

Stand some books upright and stack others. The stacked books give you a flat surface to display a pretty vase or picture frame, and they hold the upright books in place.
Organize books by color for a artistic feel.

Cover your books in paper, like brown kraft paper or matte red wrapping paper, and write the titles in marker for a clean, organized look. (Just like book covers in Junior High)

You can also turn your books into a piece of art.
(No books were harmed in this arrangement)[conceal shelf by Umbra]

And I know it's not a bookshelf, but look how designer Nick Olsen used books
to create a pedestal for the lamp. Great idea.