The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crash of 2008 and What It Means

This one of George Soros new books. This book goes deep into the current financial crisis, and basically what it means. The first half is about his theory of reflexivity and how it applies to the financial markets. He describes how the current theories, and idea that markets trend towards equilibrium but take occasional walks, is wrong. The first half is tough to get through and requires a lot of thinking, but once you understand the idea it becomes very useful.

Soros goes over various reasons why the housing bubble and super bubble (also describes what they are and how they formed) and how they apply to his theory of reflexivity. The end is pretty cool, because he does an experiment by listing various trades he took along with several notes. Since it was so recent, it makes it that much more interesting. He even bought BSC that Friday before JPM bid $2 for it.

It's a relatively small book, but requires your full attention. Definitely worth the read.