# Book reading time calculator

> How long will a book take? Enter pages or words, use the average adult reading speed or test your own, and see the hours and the day you finish.

Canonical: https://lucernel.com/tools/reading-time-calculator
Last updated: 2026-09-26

Enter the pages of a book or its word count. Use the average adult reading speed or measure your own in one minute, and see how long the book takes and when you finish.

Free, no account. Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent or stored. Interactive version: https://lucernel.com/tools/reading-time-calculator

## How it works

A 2019 review of 190 studies by Marc Brysbaert found that adults read English silently at about 238 words per minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction. The tool uses those averages unless you measure your own speed.

Pages hold very different amounts of text. For a closer estimate, count the words on three full lines, divide by three, and multiply by the number of lines on a page.

The speed test times you on a passage from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations (George Long’s public-domain translation). Read it as you normally would, then press stop.

Formula: Minutes = words ÷ words per minute. Words = pages × words per page.


## Good to know

- Reading to study, with notes, is much slower than reading for pleasure. Plan more time for dense books.
- The speed test measures one short passage. Your speed on a whole book will vary with the topic and how tired you are.

## Frequently asked questions

### How long does it take to read a 300-page book?

At about 275 words a page and 238 words per minute, around 5 hours 47 minutes. At 20 minutes a day, that is 18 days.

### What is the average reading speed?

About 238 words per minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction, for adults reading English silently (Brysbaert, 2019).

### How many words are on a page?

It depends on the page size and the type. Count the words on three full lines, divide by three and multiply by the lines on the page.

## Iqumi turns books into lessons you finish.

When a whole book does not fit your week, Iqumi gives you its ideas as short lessons you can finish while the kettle boils.

- 100 non-fiction books, eight lessons each
- Lessons as reels or short summaries
- A library that remembers your place

[Iqumi](https://lucernel.com/apps/iqumi)

## Sources (checked 2026-09-26)

- [Brysbaert M. How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate. J Mem Lang, 2019](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.104047)
- [Marcus Aurelius, Thoughts (Meditations), tr. George Long, 1862 (Project Gutenberg)](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15877)