How many pages a day do I need to read to finish a book?

Divide the pages left by the reading days you have and round up. A 320-page book over 14 days is 22.9, so 23 pages a day gets you there with a little to spare. The planner does the same arithmetic over the exact days you tick and tells you which pages to read on each one.

How long does it take to read one page?

At 250 words a minute and 300 words a page, about 1.2 minutes. Change either number and the time changes in proportion: a 450-word textbook page read at 150 words a minute takes 3 minutes. Enter your own figures in the planner and every day's estimate updates.

What if I fall behind?

Re-plan from where you are. Switch to Page range, enter the page you've reached as the first page, set the start date to today, and keep the same finish date — the remaining pages are spread over the days you have left.

Can I read only on certain days?

Yes. Untick any day under "Reading days" and the plan skips it every week. In finish-date mode the pages are spread over fewer days, so each one gets more; in pages-per-day mode the finish date moves later.

How do I put my reading plan in Google Calendar?

Click "Add to calendar (.ics)" to download one all-day event per reading day, titled with its pages, then in Google Calendar open Settings and choose Import & export to import the file. Outlook (Add calendar, then Upload from file) and Apple Calendar (File, then Import) read the same file.

Does the planner remember my book?

No. Everything is calculated in your browser and nothing is stored or uploaded. Copy the plan or add it to your calendar before you close the page.

Reading Planner - Pages Per Day to Finish a Book on Time

How to Use the Reading Planner

1. Enter what you're reading. Choose Whole book and type the page count, or Page range and type the first and last page — useful when chapters 4 to 9 are what's assigned.
2. Choose how to plan. Finish date spreads the pages over the days up to a deadline. Pages per day takes your pace and tells you when you'll finish.
3. Tick your reading days. Leave out days you know you won't read; the plan only uses the days you tick.
4. Check the time per day. Adjust the reading speed and words per page if the defaults don't fit your book, then add the plan to your calendar or copy it.

How the Plan Is Calculated

With a finish date, the planner counts the reading days from your start date to the finish date and gives each one a cumulative target: by the end of reading day i of n, you should have read the first ⌈i × pages ÷ n⌉ pages, rounded up. Rounding the running total rather than each day keeps every day within one page of the others and puts any extra pages early, where you want the slack. With a pace instead, every day takes that many pages and the last day takes whatever is left.

Time per reading day

minutes = pages × words per page ÷ words per minute

30 pages × 300 words ÷ 250 words per minute = 36 minutes

Worked example: a 320-page novel in two weeks

You start on Monday 5 October 2026, want to finish by Sunday 18 October and read every day. That is 14 reading days and 320 ÷ 14 ≈ 22.9 pages a day. The cumulative targets give twelve days of 23 pages and two of 22: day one is pages 1–23, day two 24–46, Sunday 11 October is 139–160 (22 pages), and the last day is 299–320 (22 pages). At the default 250 words a minute and 300 words a page, a 23-page day takes about 28 minutes.

Worked example: assigned chapters at a fixed pace

Your course assigns pages 15 to 342 of a textbook — 328 pages — and you can read 30 pages each weekday. Starting Monday 5 October, the plan runs for 11 reading days, skips both weekends, and ends on Monday 19 October with pages 315–342 (28 pages, about 34 minutes).

Choosing a Reading Speed and Words per Page

The defaults are round numbers, not measurements of you. A large 2019 meta-analysis by Marc Brysbaert in the Journal of Memory and Language estimated average silent reading among English-speaking adults at about 238 words per minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction, which is where 250 comes from. Reading to study — taking notes, rereading a difficult paragraph — is slower than that, and a dense textbook page can hold far more than 300 words.

Measure your speed on the real book. Time yourself reading two or three pages, count the words, and divide by the minutes. The Reading Speed Test gives a quick general figure.
Estimate words per page. Count the words in five full lines, divide by five, and multiply by the number of lines on a page. For your own typed work, the Words Per Page Calculator converts between words and pages by font and spacing.
Plan for the reading you'll actually do. If you annotate as you go, halve your normal speed and see whether the daily minutes still fit.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many pages a day do I need to read to finish a book?: Divide the pages left by the reading days you have and round up. A 320-page book over 14 days is 22.9, so 23 pages a day gets you there with a little to spare. The planner does the same arithmetic over the exact days you tick and tells you which pages to read on each one.
How long does it take to read one page?: At 250 words a minute and 300 words a page, about 1.2 minutes. Change either number and the time changes in proportion: a 450-word textbook page read at 150 words a minute takes 3 minutes. Enter your own figures in the planner and every day's estimate updates.
What if I fall behind?: Re-plan from where you are. Switch to Page range, enter the page you've reached as the first page, set the start date to today, and keep the same finish date — the remaining pages are spread over the days you have left.
Can I read only on certain days?: Yes. Untick any day under "Reading days" and the plan skips it every week. In finish-date mode the pages are spread over fewer days, so each one gets more; in pages-per-day mode the finish date moves later.
How do I put my reading plan in Google Calendar?: Click "Add to calendar (.ics)" to download one all-day event per reading day, titled with its pages, then in Google Calendar open Settings and choose Import & export to import the file. Outlook (Add calendar, then Upload from file) and Apple Calendar (File, then Import) read the same file.
Does the planner remember my book?: No. Everything is calculated in your browser and nothing is stored or uploaded. Copy the plan or add it to your calendar before you close the page.

Reading Planner