How long does it take to read a 1000-word book?
A fast reader can finish reading 1000 pages in just 10 hours, whereas it might take slower readers closer to 30-50 hours, depending on the book. Some books have more words per page, meaning it takes more time to read one page, no matter how fast you are.
Recently, I tested this with the book I’m currently reading. It is a small paperback with around 250 words per page. It took me just over an hour to read 100 pages, which translates into 10 to 11 hours for 1000 pages.
In this post, we go through different factors that determine how fast you can read 1000 pages. We also do have two tables that can give you some insights into how long it might take to read a certain number of pages.
How fast can you read 1000 pages?
A fast reader can finish reading 1000 pages, each containing 250 words in just 10 hours or even less. If the pages are long with more words and you are a slower reader, it might take closer to 30 to 50 hours or even more to finish reading 1000 pages of a book.
One thing to keep in mind is that if your book has over 1000 pages, the pages are most likely also larger. This means they do contain more words per page, which means it will take more time to finish 1000 pages.
The factors when it comes to reading speed and how long it takes to read 1000 pages are:
- Reading speed
- The topic of the book
- Words per page
- Whether you take notes or not
Sometimes it’s better to read a bit slower if it means you understand the topic better.
For school books, scientific books, and other non-fiction books, taking your time to read and digest the information is important.
Take your time, if you really want to get the most out of the book.
Taking notes on the book can also help out a lot if you want to remember as much as possible about the book.
Next, we have the first table, which goes through how long it takes to read a certain amount of pages of 250 words each, with different reading speeds. (wpm = words per minute)
Table: how many 250-word pages in a given time
| Pages (250 words each) | 150 wpm (Slow) | 250 wpm (Average) | 400 wpm (Fast) |
| 1 | 1,7 minutes | 1 minute | 0,6 minutes |
| 2 | 3,3 minutes | 2 minutes | 1,3 minutes |
| 3 | 5,0 minutes | 3 minutes | 1,9 minutes |
| 4 | 6,7 minutes | 4 minutes | 2,5 minutes |
| 5 | 8,3 minutes | 5 minutes | 3,1 minutes |
| 10 | 16,7 minutes | 10 minutes | 6,3 minutes |
| 20 | 33,3 minutes | 20 minutes | 12,5 minutes |
| 25 | 41,7 minutes | 25 minutes | 15,6 minutes |
| 50 | 1,4 hours | 50 minutes | 31,3 minutes |
| 100 | 2,8 hours | 1,7 hours | 1 hour |
| 200 | 5,6 hours | 3,3 hours | 2,1 hours |
| 300 | 8,3 hours | 5 hours | 3,1 hours |
| 400 | 11,1 hours | 6,7 hours | 4,2 hours |
| 500 | 13,9 hours | 8,3 hours | 5,2 hours |
| 1000 | 27,8 hours | 16,7 hours | 10,4 hours |
The next table is really similar, with the only difference being that the pages are 500 words each.
Table: how many 500-word pages in a given time
| Pages (500 words each) | 150 wpm (Slow) | 250 wpm (Average) | 400 wpm (Fast) |
| 1 | 3,3 minutes | 2 minute | 1,3 minutes |
| 2 | 6,7 minutes | 4 minutes | 2,5 minutes |
| 3 | 10 minutes | 6 minutes | 3,8 minutes |
| 4 | 13,3 minutes | 8 minutes | 5 minutes |
| 5 | 16,7 minutes | 10 minutes | 6,3 minutes |
| 10 | 33,3 minutes | 20 minutes | 12,5 minutes |
| 20 | 1,1 hours | 40 minutes | 25 minutes |
| 25 | 1,4 hours | 50 minutes | 31,3 minutes |
| 50 | 2,8 hours | 1,7 hours | 1 hour |
| 100 | 5,6 hours | 3,3 hours | 2,1 hour |
| 200 | 11,1 hours | 6,7 hours | 4,2 hours |
| 300 | 16,7 hours | 10 hours | 6,3 hours |
| 400 | 22,2 hours | 13,3 hours | 8,3 hours |
| 500 | 27,8 hours | 16,7 hours | 10,4 hours |
| 1000 | 55,6 hours | 33,3 hours | 20,8 hours |
Can you read 1000 pages in one week?
You can read 1000 pages in just one week but it means you do have to read a lot. The amount depends on your book. Books with fewer words per page, you can read 1000 pages in just 10 hours if you are fast. For books with more words per page and for slower readers, it might take closer to 50 hours.
Let’s take a few examples to make this clearer.
You have a goal of reading 1000 pages or a 1000-page book in just one week. Taking two days off, means you have 5 reading days. You would have to read 200 pages each day to achieve that goal.
In hours, that means:
- 2 to 6 hours daily, if the pages are short and have 250 words per page.
- 4 to 12 hours daily, if the pages are longer with 500 words per page.
Whether it takes 2 or 6 hours for the first book depends on your reading speed, as well as the topic of the book.
For reading speed, you can check out the table above, and read this post, which helps you to measure your reading speed.
The topic of the book also does play a big role. If you are already familiar with the topic, or the book is a fiction book, it might not take that long to digest the information from the book and you can read faster.
On the other hand, if the topic is new and you have to take notes, it might take you significantly longer to read 1000 pages.
Can you read 1000 pages in one day?
Reading 1000 pages of a small book with 250 words per page for a fast reader in one day is possible. However, it would still take 10 hours or more to finish. Therefore, 1000 pages a day might not be the most realistic goal to aim for.
If you want to set more realistic reading goals, check out this post.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, reading 1000 pages can take anywhere from 10 hours up to 50 hours or more, depending on following factors:
- reading speed
- words per page
- the topic of the book
- whether you take notes or not
Hopefully this was helpful, have a wonderful day!
