Do you remember when at school or high school they asked you to read books and make comments or reviews about them? And that you always left it for the end and then did what you could by reading it as fast as possible? Surely you have experienced this and many times you have asked yourself the following question: How long will it take to read a book?
If you're still wondering, or you don't know if you really read fast or not, then I'll comment on this topic because perhaps the average you use to read is higher or lower than the figure it should be. Are you curious?
Reading and understanding, two different things
Before talking about times and books, you have to understand that you can very quickly but not understand what you are reading. We have a clear example in some children (and adults). They are able to read, sometimes very quickly, but when asked what they have read or what the part read is about, they are unable to answer because they have read but not assimilated the reading.
And this is a serious problem.
Sometimes speed is prioritized over reading quality. In other words, they seek to read as many pages as possible, but later they are unable to understand or even comment on what they have read, so there is no assimilation of knowledge, or of history, that allows that time to be productive.
Therefore, when determining how many pages or words you are able to read, it is important to determine the difference between active reading (understanding what happens) and passive (read without more).
What does being able to read more or fewer pages depend on?
When you ask yourself the question "how long will it take to read a book" it is very likely that, if you think about it, you will realize that there is no simple answer because there are multiple factors that affect reading.
Which are?
- the font. Although a suitable and easy-to-read font is normally used in books, you can find other fonts that make reading more complicated, which means spending more time on each page.
- The size of the letter. Just as important is the font size. It is not the same to read a book at a size 14 than one at a size 8. Especially since the page is more or less dense, or that we have to focus our eyes more to read without getting lost.
- The spaces. Related to the above, spaces and especially line spacing are very important. Because they allow the eye to rest. Can you imagine reading a book that does not have line spacing? If you don't fully focus it is much easier to get lost in reading.
- book type. Some are easier to read than others. Either because it is the genre that you like, because it is a topic that interests you or that you have prior knowledge of... All this affects how you are going to read it and whether you have to stop to understand certain details or you can analyze the story as you continue reading.
How many pages can be read in an hour
Before delving into how long it takes to read a book we are going to study a little the number of pages that can be read in an hour.
In the case of a student, who is familiar with notes, books, exams, etc. the average reading in one hour is between 6 and 50 pages. Quite a wide arc.
This means that students are able to read at least 6 pages and at most 50, within an hour and without interruption.
In the case of a regular reader, it is very likely that your average reading touches those 50 pages. While if you are a reader who is not used to reading, it will cost you much more to keep up and it is closer to the minimum.
How long does it take to read 300 words
We have set ourselves at 300 words because is the average reading speed of a person per minute.
In general, each page is usually around 500 words. Which would indicate that a fast person could be able to read more than half a page in one minute. If it's quick, I'd read it to you in a minute.
How to increase reading speed
If you think that 300 words in a minute is too much, or you have done the test and you have not reached that figure, then what you need is to increase your speed. and for it the only effective technique is read more.
The more you read the more you will accustom your brain to reading and the faster it will do it. In fact, it will not be strange for you to reach that figure in a short time, and even exceed it.
How long will it take to read a book
Now yes, we are going to tell you how long it will take to read a book. And for this, we echo of a tool that exists on the Internet and that helps you determine how many hours you should dedicate to a book
Specifically, we talk about howlongtoreadthis, a website that has a compilation of more than 10 million books in various languages and that establishes the measured hours in which you will read a book.
For example, we have tested the book The Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.
The first thing is to put the title of the book in the search engine. Once you hit enter, scrolling down a bit you will have several results. Shows you the cover of several books so you can choose the one you really want to read and know how long it will take you.
We choose the first result.
The screen will change and, in English, will tell you that to an average reader at a rate of 300 words per minute, it will take you 7 hours and 47 minutes to read the entire book.
Now, what if your reading is not that high? The website itself provides you with a test to calculate your reading speed. The problem is that it is in English but it can still be useful to you.
All you have to do is hit the Start Timer button and start reading a more or less long fragment that they provide you (in English). Once you finish reading it, press the button again to notify that you have finished and this will determine your reading speed.
The good thing about it is that, once you do the test, it not only tells you how many words per minute you are able to read, but also also rectifies the time it takes to read the book you have searched for.
So, now, you will be able to answer the question how long will it take to read a book.