How Long Will This Book Take To Read?
Pick a book or enter its page count. A 300-page book takes the average adult about 6 hours.
How Long Popular Books Take To Read
Times at the average adult speed of 238 WPM and a faster 300 WPM. Word counts are approximate, and editions differ. For page counts, word counts and more books, see how long it takes to read anything. One of the most searched: how long it takes to read the Bible.
| Book | Words | 238 WPM | 300 WPM |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Old Man and the SeaErnest Hemingway | 27k | 1 hr 53 min | 1 hr 30 min |
| Animal FarmGeorge Orwell | 30k | 2 hr 6 min | 1 hr 40 min |
| Of Mice and MenJohn Steinbeck | 30k | 2 hr 6 min | 1 hr 40 min |
| The AlchemistPaulo Coelho | 39k | 2 hr 44 min | 2 hr 10 min |
| Fahrenheit 451Ray Bradbury | 46k | 3 hr 13 min | 2 hr 33 min |
| The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald | 47k | 3 hr 17 min | 2 hr 37 min |
| The Catcher in the RyeJ.D. Salinger | 73k | 5 hr 7 min | 4 hr 3 min |
| FrankensteinMary Shelley | 75k | 5 hr 15 min | 4 hr 10 min |
| Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneJ.K. Rowling | 77k | 5 hr 24 min | 4 hr 17 min |
| Nineteen Eighty-FourGeorge Orwell | 89k | 6 hr 14 min | 4 hr 57 min |
| The HobbitJ.R.R. Tolkien | 95k | 6 hr 39 min | 5 hr 17 min |
| The Hunger GamesSuzanne Collins | 100k | 7 hr | 5 hr 33 min |
| To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee | 100k | 7 hr | 5 hr 33 min |
| TwilightStephenie Meyer | 118k | 8 hr 16 min | 6 hr 33 min |
| Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen | 122k | 8 hr 33 min | 6 hr 47 min |
| DraculaBram Stoker | 160k | 11 hr | 8 hr 53 min |
| Great ExpectationsCharles Dickens | 183k | 13 hr | 10 hr |
| Jane EyreCharlotte Brontë | 184k | 13 hr | 10 hr |
| DuneFrank Herbert | 188k | 13 hr | 10 hr |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsJ.K. Rowling | 198k | 14 hr | 11 hr |
| Moby-DickHerman Melville | 206k | 14 hr | 11 hr |
| UlyssesJames Joyce | 265k | 19 hr | 15 hr |
| A Game of ThronesGeorge R.R. Martin | 298k | 21 hr | 17 hr |
| The Count of Monte CristoAlexandre Dumas | 464k | 33 hr | 26 hr |
| The Lord of the RingsJ.R.R. Tolkien | 480k | 34 hr | 27 hr |
| Atlas ShruggedAyn Rand | 565k | 40 hr | 31 hr |
| War and PeaceLeo Tolstoy | 587k | 41 hr | 33 hr |
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to read a 300-page book?
About 6 hours and 18 minutes for an average adult. A 300-page book has about 90,000 words, and adults read about 238 words per minute (Brysbaert, 2019). Page sizes differ a lot, so this is an estimate.
How long does it take to read a novel?
It depends on the length. At the average adult speed of 238 words per minute, The Great Gatsby (about 47,000 words) takes about 3 hours 17 minutes, Nineteen Eighty-Four (about 89,000) about 6 hours 14 minutes and Dune (about 188,000) about 13 hours. Pick a title in the calculator, or enter your page count, for your own estimate.
How many words are on a page of a book?
Usually about 250 to 300 in a printed book, depending on the page size, font and line spacing. This calculator uses 300, and you can change the number of pages to match your edition.
How can I find my reading speed?
Take our free 3-minute test. It measures your words per minute and checks your comprehension. After that, this calculator uses your own speed automatically.
Why is my real reading time longer than the estimate?
The estimate assumes you read without stopping. Breaks, re-reading and difficult passages all add time, and fiction tends to go a little faster than non-fiction.
Reading speeds from Brysbaert (2019). See average reading speed by age, grade and language.