Book Reading Time Calculator
Find out how long a book will take you. Enter its length in pages or words and your reading speed to get the total reading time, the number of days at your daily reading habit and the date you will finish.
Novels are often 70,000–100,000 words.
Paperback ≈ 250–300, hardcover ≈ 300–400, large print ≈ 200.
Average adult silent reading is roughly 240–260 wpm.
How to use the Book Reading Time Calculator
- Choose pages or words and enter the book’s length.
- Adjust words per page if the book has small or large print.
- Enter your reading speed (take a 1-minute test if unsure) and your daily reading minutes.
- Press Calculate reading time for the total time, days and finish date.
- Compare speeds in the table to see how much faster reading changes things.
Reading time formula
Reading time (minutes) = words ÷ reading speed (wpm)
If you only know the page count, estimate the words as pages × words per page. Days to finish = reading time ÷ minutes per day, rounded up.
Example: a 320-page paperback with 275 words per page has 88,000 words. At 250 wpm that is 352 minutes (5 h 52 min); reading 30 minutes a day you finish in 12 days.
How long common book lengths take
| Book length | Words | At 200 wpm | At 250 wpm | At 300 wpm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Novella | 30,000 | 2 h 30 min | 2 h | 1 h 40 min |
| Short novel | 60,000 | 5 h | 4 h | 3 h 20 min |
| Average novel | 90,000 | 7 h 30 min | 6 h | 5 h |
| Long novel | 120,000 | 10 h | 8 h | 6 h 40 min |
| Epic fantasy | 200,000 | 16 h 40 min | 13 h 20 min | 11 h 7 min |
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read a book?
Divide the word count by your reading speed. A 90,000-word novel at 250 words per minute takes 360 minutes, or 6 hours. At 30 minutes a day that is 12 days.
How many words are on a page?
A typical paperback novel has about 250–300 words per page, a hardcover about 300–400 and large-print books around 200. Pages with dialogue have fewer words than dense non-fiction.
What is the average reading speed?
A 2019 review of 190 studies (Brysbaert) found average silent reading speeds for adults of about 238 words per minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction. Careful study reading is slower, skimming much faster.
How do I measure my reading speed?
Read normally for exactly one minute with a timer, count the lines you read, and multiply by the average words per line. Or read for 5 minutes, count words and divide by 5.
How long is an audiobook compared with reading?
Audiobooks are usually narrated at roughly 150–160 words per minute, so they take longer than silent reading for most adults. The calculator shows an estimate at 155 wpm.
How many books can I read in a year?
Multiply your daily reading minutes by 365 and divide by the minutes one book takes. Reading 30 minutes a day at 250 wpm gets through about 30 books of 90,000 words a year.