I know I'm a tiny bit late on this one...OF COURSE I remembered when I was at home that I totally forgot to finish and post this before I had left for my long weekend off.  My only excuse is that I just got totally caught up in the end of SRC and was running around all week getting that wrapped up.
Anyway, here it is:

Week 5
Assignment 1:  I've been receiving the EarlyWord weekly newsletter for some time now and look forward to reading it each Friday.  I've requested lots of items based on what I have read from it, and it almost always has information that interests me.  I love that it includes book to movie adaptation information as well and things like trailers as soon as they come out!  It is always very current and I've learned a lot of things simply from taking a look through their weekly newsletter.  When I have some extra time, sometimes I will go through the website a little more in-depth, but usually the newsletter really hits the highlights that I'm interested in.
The second source I've been taking a look at here and there is http://www.locusmag.com/ .  To be quite honest, I haven't found this one has interesting or user friendly as EarlyWord.  I think one of the reasons is because at first glance, the entire website is quite wordy and it can be a little difficult deciding where to start reading.  A lot of the information that I have seen on this website are things I already learned from the EarlyWord newsletter.  For example, Locus Mag did a little bit on The Martian and Armada.  Both titles have already been mentioned multiple times on EarlyWord in a more easily accessible format.

Assignment 2:  Working here at Cockeysville, we have very diverse readers who like to read a LOT.  We are asked frequently for recommendations for all ages.  I do find it helpful in that one of my jobs is the Information Desk Coordinator.  One of the responsibilities under that job includes getting both the newest New York Times Bestseller List posted out in the branch as well as the Hot Titles list for each upcoming month.  Doing this is a great reminder to myself to take a look at it whenever I put the new lists out.  We very often have customers who ask where the lists are, or if they already know, they will carry it over to you to have you order multiple books for them.

EarlyWord's website can be fairly helpful in assisting customers.  I especially like that they have going down the right hand side lists of award winners.  A lot of times you will have kids come in who are doing school assignments requiring them to read a book that has won a certain award and they have no idea where to start.  Other links that I have discovered and know I will continue to use are the links to Amazon's Top Sellers. 

Assignment 3:  Looking at Amazon's Coming Soon/Best of the Month lists, a title that caught my eye is Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell.  Being under the Young Adult section and having an appealing cover are the factors that caught my eye.  The summary also appealed to me, as a different type of re-telling of Cinderella with a Steampunk flair.  I think this could appeal to a lot of teen girls, as fairy tales are always popular and it reminds me of another series that has been popular for some time now: Cinder by Marissa Meyer.  I would give this to a younger teen who wants what sounds to be a stronger female lead with a touch of magic and fantasy.