This was a long list to make! Luckily wikipedia has all the individual lists of yearly NYT bestseller toppers, and I decided to put them in one giant list. It is incredibly interesting to go through it and see how tastes have changed since 1931 (although from 1931-1941, the list only covers the NYC area) and which authors have almost an automatic place at the top. This is quite educational and I do recommend taking it for that purpose.
As always have fun folks, I really hope people take this one!