How long does it take to read 870 pages?

16 hr 45 min for an average reader (238 words per minute, ~275 words a page).

870 pages is a long book. Reading 30 minutes a day, plan on roughly 34 days. Slow readers need about 22 hr 47 min; fast readers about 13 hr 17 min.

Your time for 870 pages

870 paperback pages ≈ 239,250 words
ReaderSpeedTime
Slow / careful175 wpm22 hr 47 min
Reading aloud183 wpm21 hr 47 min
Average adult238 wpm16 hr 45 min
Fiction, average260 wpm15 hr 20 min
Fast reader300 wpm13 hr 17 min
Very fast400 wpm9 hr 58 min
Same 870 pages, different page types, at 238 wpm
Page typeWords/pageTime
Paperback novel~27516 hr 45 min
Hardcover / large print~23014 hr
Textbook / non-fiction~35021 hr 19 min
Document, single-spaced~50030 hr 27 min
Document, double-spaced~25015 hr 13 min

How this estimate works

Time = pages × words per page ÷ reading speed. A typical paperback page holds about 250–300 words, so we use 275. The 238 wpm average comes from a 2019 review of 190 reading studies by psychologist Marc Brysbaert; fiction is read a little faster, at about 260 wpm. Your real time also depends on the font, the page size and how dense the writing is, so treat it as a planning figure. To get a figure for you rather than the average, take the 60-second reading speed test; your result then appears as “My speed” in the calculator above.

Working in words instead of pages? Use the reading time calculator, or convert with words to pages.

Other book lengths

830 pages840 pages850 pages860 pages880 pages890 pages900 pages910 pages50 pages100 pages200 pages300 pages400 pages500 pagesAll lengths

Questions people ask

How long does it take to read 870 pages?

About 16 hr 45 min for an average adult reading silently at 238 words per minute, assuming a paperback page of about 275 words (239,250 words in total). A slower reader at 175 wpm needs about 22 hr 47 min; a fast reader at 300 wpm about 13 hr 17 min.

How many days to read 870 pages?

At 30 minutes of reading a day and an average speed, about 34 days. At an hour a day, about 17 days.

How many words are in 870 pages?

Roughly 239,250 words in a paperback (about 275 words a page). A single-spaced document page holds about 500 words, so 870 document pages is about 435,000 words.

How many pages can you read in an hour?

About 52 paperback pages at the average adult speed of 238 wpm, or about 28 single-spaced document pages. Dense textbooks go slower, often 20–30 pages an hour.