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Welcome to the new weekly news update, a feature that we'll be implementing on a regular basis henceforth here at the Penguin Blog.

Unless you're a dedicated fan of Penguin's and have already subscribed to a news feed like Google Alert, you're most likely in the dark as to the momentous goings on behind the revolving glass doors here at 375 Hudson St, New York, NY. Fret no longer: this new feature will not only showcase the exciting developments that are constantly afoot across The New York Times best seller lists and in various book fairs around the country, but will also highlight the latest updates and features here at the Penguin Group (USA) homepage.

The New York Times Bestseller Highlights for the Week of August12th

For the week of August 19th, Fiasco by Thomas Ricks (Penguin) debuts at #10 on The New York Times paperback nonfiction list. In addition, Penguin Group (USA) once again holds two #1 positions: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead) holds at #1 on the hardcover fiction list in its eleventh week; and on the paperback nonfiction list, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin) continues to hold at #1 - for the fourteenth time in the past fifteen weeks! - in its 28th overall week.

Here are more bestseller highlights for the week of August 19th:

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If summer is a time for family reunions and visiting old friends, when you’re the parent of a child with autism, it’s also a time for taking stock and hoping to hear accolades from people who haven’t seen your child for a while: I can’t believe how well he’s doing/how much he’s talking/how great he seems. Sadly, this summer, we haven’t heard too much of this.

All children with autism go through ups and downs. There are phases of mysterious and surprising leaps, where you look at every supplement, every therapy and food he’s eaten to explain some new, remarkable clarity. Then there are the phases like the one our 11-year-old, Ethan, seems to have been in most of the summer: not dreadful, just a lot of mindless humming, lots of silence, lots of staring out windows watching other children play in our backyard.