Books API

nytimes · Media

Media No Auth Free & Open media open_data

The Books API provides information about book reviews and The New York Times bestsellers lists.

Authentication

No authentication requiredFree to use with no key needed.

Sample Requests

GET Best Seller List

Best Seller List

https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/lists.{format}?date=2026-06-02&isbn=example&list=example&rank=1&offset=0&sort-order=ASC&weeks-on-list=1&published-date=example&rank-last-week=1&bestsellers-date=example

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/lists.{format}?date=2026-06-02&isbn=example&list=example&rank=1&offset=0&sort-order=ASC&weeks-on-list=1&published-date=example&rank-last-week=1&bestsellers-date=example"

import requests
params = {
    "date": "2026-06-02",
    "isbn": "example",
    "list": "example",
    "rank": "1",
    "offset": "0",
    "sort-order": "ASC",
    "weeks-on-list": "1",
    "published-date": "example",
    "rank-last-week": "1",
    "bestsellers-date": "example"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/lists.{format}",
    params=params,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/lists.{format}');
url.searchParams.set('date', '2026-06-02');
url.searchParams.set('isbn', 'example');
url.searchParams.set('list', 'example');
url.searchParams.set('rank', '1');
url.searchParams.set('offset', '0');
url.searchParams.set('sort-order', 'ASC');
url.searchParams.set('weeks-on-list', '1');
url.searchParams.set('published-date', 'example');
url.searchParams.set('rank-last-week', '1');
url.searchParams.set('bestsellers-date', 'example');

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/lists.{format}")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("date", "2026-06-02")
	q.Set("isbn", "example")
	q.Set("list", "example")
	q.Set("rank", "1")
	q.Set("offset", "0")
	q.Set("sort-order", "ASC")
	q.Set("weeks-on-list", "1")
	q.Set("published-date", "example")
	q.Set("rank-last-week", "1")
	q.Set("bestsellers-date", "example")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/lists.{format}")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "date" => "2026-06-02",
  "isbn" => "example",
  "list" => "example",
  "rank" => "1",
  "offset" => "0",
  "sort-order" => "ASC",
  "weeks-on-list" => "1",
  "published-date" => "example",
  "rank-last-week" => "1",
  "bestsellers-date" => "example"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/lists.{format}?" . http_build_query([
    "date" => "2026-06-02",
    "isbn" => "example",
    "list" => "example",
    "rank" => "1",
    "offset" => "0",
    "sort-order" => "ASC",
    "weeks-on-list" => "1",
    "published-date" => "example",
    "rank-last-week" => "1",
    "bestsellers-date" => "example"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

GET Best Seller History List

Best Seller History List

https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/lists/best-sellers/history.json?isbn=example&price=example&title=Example&author=example&age-group=example&publisher=example&contributor=example

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/lists/best-sellers/history.json?isbn=example&price=example&title=Example&author=example&age-group=example&publisher=example&contributor=example"

import requests
params = {
    "isbn": "example",
    "price": "example",
    "title": "Example",
    "author": "example",
    "age-group": "example",
    "publisher": "example",
    "contributor": "example"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/lists/best-sellers/history.json",
    params=params,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/lists/best-sellers/history.json');
url.searchParams.set('isbn', 'example');
url.searchParams.set('price', 'example');
url.searchParams.set('title', 'Example');
url.searchParams.set('author', 'example');
url.searchParams.set('age-group', 'example');
url.searchParams.set('publisher', 'example');
url.searchParams.set('contributor', 'example');

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/lists/best-sellers/history.json")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("isbn", "example")
	q.Set("price", "example")
	q.Set("title", "Example")
	q.Set("author", "example")
	q.Set("age-group", "example")
	q.Set("publisher", "example")
	q.Set("contributor", "example")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/lists/best-sellers/history.json")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "isbn" => "example",
  "price" => "example",
  "title" => "Example",
  "author" => "example",
  "age-group" => "example",
  "publisher" => "example",
  "contributor" => "example"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/lists/best-sellers/history.json?" . http_build_query([
    "isbn" => "example",
    "price" => "example",
    "title" => "Example",
    "author" => "example",
    "age-group" => "example",
    "publisher" => "example",
    "contributor" => "example"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

GET Reviews

Reviews

https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/reviews.{format}?isbn=1&title=Example&author=example&api-key=YOUR_API_KEY

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/reviews.{format}?isbn=1&title=Example&author=example&api-key=YOUR_API_KEY"

import requests
params = {
    "isbn": "1",
    "title": "Example",
    "author": "example",
    "api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/reviews.{format}",
    params=params,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/reviews.{format}');
url.searchParams.set('isbn', '1');
url.searchParams.set('title', 'Example');
url.searchParams.set('author', 'example');
url.searchParams.set('api-key', 'YOUR_API_KEY');

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/reviews.{format}")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("isbn", "1")
	q.Set("title", "Example")
	q.Set("author", "example")
	q.Set("api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/reviews.{format}")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "isbn" => "1",
  "title" => "Example",
  "author" => "example",
  "api-key" => "YOUR_API_KEY"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/nytimes.com/books_api/3.0.0/reviews.{format}?" . http_build_query([
    "isbn" => "1",
    "title" => "Example",
    "author" => "example",
    "api-key" => "YOUR_API_KEY"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

Postman Setup Guide

Get Postman ↗

See official documentation for authentication and setup.

What can you build with Books API?

Books API is a Media API. Developers commonly use media APIs for:

storing and delivering images, video, and audio
building digital asset management and media libraries
transcoding and optimising media for the web
adding video streaming and playback to your app
automating content tagging and metadata extraction

No authentication required. This API is open — no signup or key needed. Ideal for quick prototypes and public-facing features. Books API is free to use, making it a low-risk choice to experiment with.

New to APIs? Read our beginner's guide

Open documentation ↗