How many pages can you read in an hour? As simple as this question sounds, its answer is not that straightforward, and it depends on various factors varying from the reader’s state of mind to the book that is being read. On one of my days, I can read as many as 50 pages in an hour. However, these numbers can also fall to 30 or even 20 pages, depending on the situation. With a distracted mind, I can also find myself unable to retain information worth even ten pages.
The Habit Of Reading
There was a time when we, as kids, used to loathe the idea of carrying a hefty load of school books on our backs. That pair of straps over our shoulders that distributed the undesirable burden from our neck to the waist will not be forgotten by anyone, whether it may be a front bench nerd or a backbench bard. But, no one knew back then that the weight of the books was inversely proportional to the pressure that people would have in their responsibility.
Yes, as the number of books became lesser and lesser over our academic journey, the time we dedicated towards research and note-making became higher. Those were the days when our teachers devoted a separate period to make us read out storybooks in the library. But now, they left us all like ships embarked on their journey. Each of us developed unique practices of reading and writing. Our cultivated interest in reading became diverse based on what we prefer and influenced by the sources we look up to. Let’s see how people spend their time reading.
See Also: How Long Does It Take To Read 100 Pages?
How Many Pages Can You Read In An Hour?
The speed at which one reads depends on a variety of factors that include- the type of content, the complexity of the words used, the fluency of the person in the language used, the person’s mood, and most importantly, the frequency in which the person reads in a timely basis. Some people have a keen interest in fiction, becoming voracious readers who spend their holidays in the bookstores. They can spend their entire day, excluding food time, reading and always enjoy it.
Usually, a well-versed reader can read about 50 pages or above in an hour. The page count is subject to the font size and style. A slow reader can read up to 30 pages an hour. A person who is not up to the average level of fluency and has basic vocabulary proficiency will take, at their best, an hour to read 35 pages according to the mainstream literature sphere.
Fiction vs. Non-Fiction
A fictional work such as a storybook or a novel maintains a favorable flow of writing, making it simple for a reader to comprehend. Most commercial fiction books have simple words, making the reader want to read them in one sitting. The category of books in fiction with difficult words, and sometimes obsolete words, is literary fiction. Classics fall under this category. They may take a little longer to read and understand. An average reader of fiction reads at a rate of 260 words per minute if read silently. Reading orally can lower the reading rate, and hence people can take it to 190 words per minute.
A work of non-fiction includes textbooks of schools and colleges, books based on studies and research, newspapers, and all other information dumps. Usually, they incorporate technical words and are read in a professional tone. So readers of non-fiction read at a rate of 230 words per minute while reading silently. The fact that non-fiction books do not employ the usage of emotion or aesthetics makes the reader less enthusiastic about finishing such works in one sitting.
Let Us Look At Some Examples
One of the most notable books known by multitudes of people irrespective of age is the Harry Potter series.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone, the first in the series, has a length of 62,000 words spanning over 248 pages. It takes an average reader 4 hours to finish the book if they read at a rate of 250 words per minute. The series is a children’s book with a simple vocabulary and an elegant style. So that usually takes a reader an hour to finish 60 pages.
‘A brief history of time,’ by Stephen Hawking, is a famous non-fiction book that spans 212 pages. An average reader takes 4 hours to finish it, at the rate of 230 words per minute. That’s roughly 50 pages an hour for a well-versed person.
Websites on the internet help us calculate the reading time based on the number of pages and word count. An average reader can read about 40 to 50 pages in an hour. And I can read about 50 pages an hour. If the book is not interesting, I can push it to 35 to 40 pages an hour. People need to cultivate an interest in reading. At first, everything seems complicated, but everything is difficult initially. When people fully understand the power of verbal words, actual development begins.
Steven is a philosopher and author living in London, England. He specialises in writing thought-provoking articles and books in the field of philosophical theology, covering subjects such as free will, suffering, the nature of God, and the meaning of life.