Can anybody who is a pro in MySQL recommend a few books to go from novice -> expert (ish 
)
Iām already decent at MySQL, but I need to understand really complicated JOINS better and become much better at learing how to optimize my tables and queries better.
I like books which are easily read / understood for the level you are at, Iām currently reading one which is just way above me so I need to bridge the gap 
I would say my level is around novice, I can do simple joins and do just about anything needed for small database sites, ive made my own CMS etc, I mainly get stuck when trying to imrpove queries like the one I will list below.
I would like to be able to look at a query like the one below and just understand better what its doing and improving it (if possible) , the query below is from a site I have to change over and Iām lost with queries like this for now (lost as in knowing a better way to write them)
SELECT this.horsename,
next.finish,this.adjfigure5,this.figmod5,next.adjfigure5,next.figmod5
FROM raceentry this
INNER JOIN race r ON r.raceid = this.raceid
LEFT OUTER JOIN raceentrynextON this.horsename =next.horsename ANDnext.raceid = (
SELECT r2.raceid
FROM race r2
INNER JOIN raceentry e2 ON r2.raceid = e2.raceid
WHERE e2.horsename =next.horsename
AND e2.postposition <> 0
AND e2.programnum <> āSā
AND r2.racedate = (
SELECT MIN(r2.racedate)
FROM race r2
INNER JOIN raceentry e2 ON r2.raceid = e2.raceid
WHERE e2.horsename = this.horsename
AND r2.racedate > r.racedate
AND e2.postposition <> 0
AND e2.programnum <> āSā
)
)
WHERE r.venuedate = ā20080605ā