XP TRACKERHow long will this book take to read?
A 300-page novel takes most adults about five to six hours of reading. Enter the page count, pick your speed or time yourself for ten minutes, and see the total hours and the day you will finish at your own pace.
Your book
How the estimate is worked out
The book's length in words is the page count times the words on a page. Divide by your reading speed in words per minute and you have the total reading time. Divide that by the minutes you read on a reading day and you get the number of reading days; spread over the days you actually read each week, that becomes a finish date.
The speed presets are close to what research finds. A 2019 review of 190 reading studies by Marc Brysbaert, in the Journal of Memory and Language, put average silent reading in English at about 238 words a minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction. Many people read slower than that in bed, on a phone, or in a second language, which is why the presets start at 180.
The 10-minute self-test
Your own pace beats any average. Open the book you plan to read, set a 10-minute timer and read normally, without skimming. Count the pages and choose "I timed myself" above. This skips the words-per-page guess entirely, so it works for comics, poetry, textbooks and books in any language.
Using the result
- Pick a daily slot, not a deadline. Twenty minutes after dinner finishes a 300-page novel in under three weeks. The book gets done because the slot keeps happening.
- Check long books before you start. An 800-page book at 20 minutes a day takes six weeks or more. Fine if you love it; good to know before a holiday.
- Plan reading goals from real hours. Two hours a week at an average pace covers about 18 books of 300 pages in a year. The reading goal calculator works it out from the other side: books first, pages per day second.
Why your time will differ
Words per page change with the edition, font and margins. Dialogue-heavy books read faster than dense description. Tiredness, noise and a phone on the table slow everyone down. If your pages keep blurring, our guide to staying focused while reading has practical fixes.
Try it today
Time yourself for ten minutes in the book on your nightstand tonight. Put the pages into the calculator, and you will know when you can finish it.
Questions people ask
How long does it take to read 300 pages?
At an average 240 words a minute and about 275 words a page, roughly 5 hours 45 minutes. A fast reader at 350 words a minute needs about 4 hours, a slower reader at 180 words a minute about 7 and a half.
How long does it take to read 100 pages?
About 2 hours at an average pace, a little over 1 hour 15 minutes if you read quickly. Large print and books with lots of dialogue go faster per page.
How many words are on a page of a book?
A typical paperback novel page holds roughly 250 to 300 words. Hardcovers with wide margins, young adult books and large print hold fewer. Dense non-fiction and textbooks can hold 400 or more.
Is reading faster always better?
No. Speed reading claims tend to fall apart when comprehension is tested. Read at the pace where you still follow and enjoy the book. The calculator is for planning, not a race.
How long is an audiobook compared with reading?
Narrators often speak at about 150 to 160 words a minute, slower than most people read silently. A book that takes you 6 hours to read can be a 9-hour audiobook at normal speed.
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