Good guide book for Venice (other than Rick's)

24 Great Walks in Venice. Terrific self-guided itineraries. Bought it Thru Amazon.com.

I actually think Lonely Planet's Venice book is far better than RS.

I used the DK Eye Witness Top Ten book. It's small and easy to carry around, has just enough information when you are there. I think that unlike most places, the best part of Venice is just being there. Ride the vaporetto, get up once at first light and go to St. Mark's Square to watch the sun rise over the lagoon - magical time of day. . . no tourists, no vendors, just the street sweepers and the photographers. I also used Rick's free audio guides, downloaded to my iPod.

Brunetti's Venice based on the mystery novels of Donna Leon. In her books the detective, Brunetti, walks through Venice stopping at various cafes etc. The walks in this book follow his routes. Useful information on shops, restaurants and cafes and bars, along with teaser extracts from the books.

I'm also a big fan of the DK Eyewitness Guide series.

For art, architecture, and history, the Blue Guides are amazing.

I suppose it really depends on what other information you are wanting. Food experiences? Cheap Lodging and food? Art? Walks? History? Some guides and books are known for certain things. The DK guides are nice in that they are very graphical, provide nice little tidbits, but lack maybe some depth and are horrendous for lodging and food. Lonely Planet focuses on cheap but usually very good lodging and food ( I like to check them for most destinations), Frommers a step up, Fodors usually another step up. Areas that Lets Go covers well, I like them (Greece comes to mind, but their Italy guide may be good as well) Other guides have their specialties as others have mentioned, plus there are many specialized guides or even books just covering the area or a topic.