Book Bestsellers Screensaver
The Book Bestsellers screensaver flips through this week's real bestseller list — title, author and rank — refreshed by a background pipeline from the official New York Times Books API, using your free key. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
How the Book Bestsellers screensaver works
A background pipeline reads the real current bestseller list from the New York Times Books API, using your free key.
Each book flips onto the board in rank order with its title and author.
Choose from a few real published lists, including fiction, nonfiction and young adult.
The list refreshes weekly, matching the real publication's own cadence.
A worked example
Set it to Hardcover Fiction and this week's actual #1 title leads the board — the same real ranking published in the newspaper's own list.
Settings & tips
- List switches between real published bestseller categories.
- Accent recolours the rank numbers.
- Run
automation/run.py bookbestsellerson your pipeline machine to refresh the data. - A free NYT API key is required — see the site's setup notes.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the data real?
- Yes. It comes straight from the New York Times Books API, the same real bestseller lists published weekly.
- Why does it need a pipeline?
- The NYT API requires a free key, which stays on your pipeline machine and never reaches the browser.
- How do I get a key?
- Register for free at the NYT Developer portal — no cost, approval is usually immediate.
- Is it free?
- Yes — free to use; only the pipeline's NYT key requires a free signup.