How long does it take to read a book?
Short answer: a typical 300-page book holds about 90,000 words and takes 6 to 7.5 hours of actual reading at an average speed of 200 to 250 words per minute. A 200-page book takes about 4 to 5 hours, and a 500-page book takes about 10 to 12.5 hours. The table below covers common lengths at three speeds.
Hours by book length and reading speed
The table assumes a full page of about 300 words. 200 words per minute is a relaxed average pace, 300 is a brisk practiced pace, and 500 is very fast, near the top of what readers sustain with real comprehension. Many novels have lighter pages, so treat these as upper-end estimates.
| Pages | Words (approx.) | 200 wpm | 300 wpm | 500 wpm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 30,000 | 2.5 h | 1.7 h | 1 h |
| 200 | 60,000 | 5 h | 3.3 h | 2 h |
| 300 | 90,000 | 7.5 h | 5 h | 3 h |
| 400 | 120,000 | 10 h | 6.7 h | 4 h |
| 500 | 150,000 | 12.5 h | 8.3 h | 5 h |
| 1000 | 300,000 | 25 h | 16.7 h | 10 h |
In calendar terms: at 30 minutes a day and 200 words per minute, a 300-page book takes about 15 days. At an hour a day, about a week. A 1000-page epic at an hour a day takes about 25 days, which is why long books feel like commitments. They are.
What changes the math
Density
The biggest factor by far. A thriller with short chapters and lots of dialogue reads at full speed or faster, since dialogue-heavy pages hold fewer words. A philosophy text, a technical manual, or an academic book can cut your speed in half or worse, because you stop to think, and stopping to think is the point of those books. The same reader can be a 300 words per minute reader in the morning novel and a 120 words per minute reader in the evening textbook.
Breaks and interruptions
The table counts pure reading time. Real sessions include tea, stretching, and checking on the noise in the kitchen. Add 15 to 20 percent to any estimate you plan around, and more if your phone stays within reach.
Rereading
Losing your place and running the same paragraph again is common, especially when tired or distracted. Heavy rereading can quietly add a third to your time. If you notice it happening a lot, shorter sessions at better hours recover more time than pushing on.
Format
Page counts mislead. A mass-market paperback page, a hardcover page, and an e-reader screen at large font hold very different word counts. Word count is the honest measure, which is why the table shows it.
How to time yourself
Estimates are fine, but your own number is better, and it takes ten minutes to get.
Open the book you actually want to read, set a timer for 10 minutes, and read normally. Count the pages you covered, including partial pages. Multiply by six for your hourly page rate, then divide the book’s remaining pages by that rate. If you read 6 pages in 10 minutes, that is 36 pages per hour, and a 288-page book is an even 8 hours.
Retime yourself per book, not per year. Your rate on one book predicts your rate on the next one surprisingly poorly, because density varies more between books than skill varies between weeks.
A note on the point of the number
Knowing a book is 8 hours long is useful the same way knowing a film is 2 hours long is useful. It lets you plan honestly, pick a book that fits the week you are actually having, and notice progress. It says nothing about whether the book is worth those hours. Some 25-hour books repay every minute and some 3-hour books do not.
Common questions
How long does it take to read 200 pages?
About 5 hours at 200 words per minute, and about 3.3 hours at 300 words per minute, assuming a full page of around 300 words. Many novels have lighter pages, so 4 to 5 hours is a good planning number for 200 pages of fiction.
How long does it take to read 500 pages?
About 12.5 hours at 200 words per minute and about 8.3 hours at 300 words per minute. Spread over 45 minutes a day, a 500-page book takes roughly two to three weeks. Few people read 500 pages in one sitting, so plan in days, not hours.
Can you read a book in 2 hours?
A short book, yes. Two hours at 200 to 250 words per minute covers 24,000 to 30,000 words, which is an 80 to 100 page book or a long novella. A standard 300-page novel in 2 hours would require about 750 words per minute, which is a skimming pace rather than a reading pace.
How long does it take to read a book out loud compared to silently?
Reading aloud runs around 150 to 160 words per minute, which is why audiobooks of 90,000-word books run about 10 hours. Silent reading at 200 to 250 words per minute covers the same book in 6 to 7.5 hours. Reading aloud takes roughly 40 to 60 percent longer.
How many days does it take to finish a book reading 30 minutes a day?
A 300-page book takes about 7.5 hours at 200 words per minute, so 30 minutes a day finishes it in about 15 days. At an hour a day it takes about a week. Consistency matters more than session length for finishing books.
Full disclosure: this is our app
readrrr is a free iPhone app that takes the guesswork out of these numbers. It shows your text at a speed you set, from 100 to 1,000 words per minute, so a 90,000-word book at 300 words per minute is exactly 5 hours, and it imports books, PDFs, Safari articles, pasted text, and scanned pages.
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