A finite reading list
Most keen readers have a pile of books waiting and a longer list in their head. It can be sobering, and also motivating, to count how many books are actually left. At a book a month, someone in their mid thirties has room for around 600 more by their mid eighties. That is plenty, but nowhere near enough for everything, which is a good argument for choosing well and abandoning books that are not working. The shelf above draws one spine for every book still ahead of you.
Move the slider to your real reading pace and set the age you want to count to. The tiles show how many minutes a day that pace takes and what one extra book a month would add.
How we calculate it
We multiply your books per year by the years from today to the age you choose. Minutes a day assume a typical book of 90,000 words read at 250 words a minute, about six hours a book. Hours ahead multiply the books by those six hours. The bookshelf draws one spine per book, grouped into shelves; very large numbers are scaled so each spine stands for several books.
| Reading pace | Minutes a day | Books in 30 years | Books in 50 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 a year | 5 | 150 | 250 |
| 12 a year | 12 | 360 | 600 |
| 26 a year | 26 | 780 | 1,300 |
| 52 a year | 51 | 1,560 | 2,600 |
Worked example. Someone born on 12 April 1990 who reads 12 books a year and counts to age 85 has about 581 books ahead of them from 30 October 2026. That pace takes about 12 minutes a day. Reading one more book a month would add another 581.
Choosing what to read
Knowing the number can change how you pick. Some readers keep a short list of books they would hate to miss and read those first; others set a rule that any book can be dropped after 50 pages. Either way, the shelf is yours to fill.
Questions people ask
How many books does the average person read?
It varies hugely. Surveys in the US have found a typical (median) adult reads around five books a year, while the average is pulled up to about twelve by keen readers. Many people read none in a given year.
How long does a book take to read?
A typical novel of about 90,000 words takes around six hours at an average adult reading speed of 250 words a minute. Twenty minutes a day is enough for about 20 such books a year.
What does the age I choose mean?
It is the age up to which you want to count, so you can see how many books fit in that stretch of life. It is your choice, not a prediction.
How many books exist?
Google estimated in 2010 that about 130 million distinct books had been published in modern history, and hundreds of thousands more appear every year. Even a dedicated reader will finish only a few thousand.
Sources. Pew Research Center reading surveys; Brysbaert (2019), average adult reading speed; Google Books estimate of books published (2010). Calculations run in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.