Reading Challenge Calculator

How it works

Days left = days in year − day of year + 1 · pages per day = (goal − books read) × pages per book ÷ days left · minutes per day = pages per day ÷ pages per hour × 60 · expected by now = goal × (day of year − 1) ÷ days in year

Reading challenges such as the Goodreads Reading Challenge set a number of books for the calendar year. The calculator spreads the books you still need over the days left, including today, and converts them into pages and minutes with your own reading speed (typical adult reading of fiction is about 30 to 50 pages an hour, or 200 to 300 words a minute). The schedule check compares your count with a steady pace from January 1.

Worked example

With a 24-book goal, 15 books read and 300-page books on October 5, 2026: 88 days are left, so 9 books × 300 pages ÷ 88 = 30.7 pages a day, about 46 minutes at 40 pages an hour. A steady pace would have reached 18.2 books by today, so you are 3.2 books behind schedule.

Sources: Brysbaert (2019), How many words do we read per minute?, Journal of Memory and Language

Frequently asked questions