(Reuters) – The United States is sending two aircraft carriers into the South China Sea at the same time as China is conducting military exercises in the contested waterway, the Wall Street Journal reported. The USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz would be in the South China Sea from Saturday,...

Following is a recap of major news at Hachette Book Group for the week of April 15-19, 2019: HBG Community Service Day: we had our second annual Community Service Day on Wednesday, and close to 600 HBG employees volunteered in a wide variety of activities – preparing food in community kitchens, delivering hot meals to homebound seniors, reading with children, repainting rooms in community centers, gardening in green spaces, caring for animals in rescue shelters, assisting with literacy and mental health awareness projects, creating handmade cards for hospitalized children, and much more. Bestseller news:  James Patterson’s The Fall of Crazy House (JIMMY Patterson) debuts at #4 on the New York Times YA Hardcover list. Also, debuting on the NYT lists are William W. Li’s Eat to Beat Disease (GCP) at #10 on the Advice, How-To, & Misc., and Miracle at St. Andrews by James Patterson & Peter de Jonge (LB) at #13 on the Print HC Fiction list. HBG’s distribution clients have a #1 bestseller with Jeff Kinney’s new addition to the Diary of the Wimpy Kid franchise, Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid (Abrams) at the top of the Middle Grade Hardcover list. And David Sax’s The Revenge of the Analog (PublicAffairs) makes a surprise appearance at #1 on the Washington Post bestseller list this week. LA Times Book Prize: Beth Macy’s Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America (LB) has won the 2018  for Science & Technology. Ondaatje Prize shortlist: Adam Weymouth’s Kings of the Yukon (LB) has been named to the Royal Society of Literature’s 2019  shortlist. The £10,000 prize is awarded annually to a book of the highest literary merit – fiction, non-fiction, or poetry – which best evokes the spirit of a place. The winner will be announced May 13. Major launch: Ali Benjamin’s highly anticipated The Next Great Paulie Fink (LBYR) went on sale this week with an interview on NPR’s Here & Now, coverage to come in The Denver Post, New York Times, People, and the Wall Street Journal, and a two-week national tour.