Can you recommend any books to help me understand the current turmoil in the financial markets?

Because the current financial crisis is ongoing, there has not been a definitive book written yet that explains it. That said, there are a few good resources out there that are worth looking at, to provide some context. Among them are these two recently released books: "The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What it Means" by George Soros (Public Affairs, May 2008); and "The Subprime Solution: How Today's Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do about It" by Robert J. Shiller (Princeton University Press, August 2008.)