Estimated time
The median book in this catalog takes about 288 minutes to read. Books like The Infernal Marriage may take just 100 minutes, while At the Point of the Bayonet needs about 600.
Reading Tracker
Choose a book, record where you are, and set a daily goal. Your progress is stored in localStorage in this browser; it is not uploaded to a user account.
No sign-up required
Stored in your browser
Estimated time remaining
Choose a book
If the EPUB has no fixed print pagination, the tool starts with an estimated page count and lets you replace it with the page total shown by your own reader.
Reading progress
0%
0 / 0 pages
Remaining
—
Estimated time left
—
At your daily goal
—
Stored locally
Reading history
| Date | Start | End | Read |
|---|
How the progress estimate works
The Reading tool provides estimates for how long a book will take to read, based on the total word count and an average reading pace. It also shows the average sentence length, which can give you a sense of the text's flow.
These estimates are approximate. Your actual reading time will vary with your own pace and familiarity with the style. Use them as a planning aid, not a promise.
Sentence length
Average sentence length can range from under 13 words to over 36. Shorter sentences often read faster, but style and content also matter.
Text sections
Books are divided into sections, from 3 to 13. More sections may mean more natural pauses, which can affect how you pace your reading.
Making Progress One Page at a Time
The Reading Tracker is built around a simple idea: progress is measured in pages, not in chapters or minutes. You set a current page, a total page count, and a daily page goal, and the tracker tells you how many days you need to finish. For books in this catalog, where page counts are not always printed, the tracker estimates the total as word count divided by 250 words per page. You can replace that estimate with the page count from your own reading app or edition.
That page-based approach works well for public-domain texts because their physical formatting varies. A book that is 60,000 words might be 240 pages in one edition and 300 in another. The tracker lets you adjust the total to match your copy, so the numbers stay meaningful.
Start with a Realistic Daily Goal
The default daily goal is 20 pages, which is a reasonable place to begin. For In Happy Valley — Text and Context, a book with 28,831 words, the estimated page count is ceil(28831 / 250) = 116 pages. At 20 pages a day, you would finish in ceil(116 / 20) = 6 days. That is a manageable commitment for a short novel.
If 20 pages feels like too much on some days, you can lower the goal. The tracker recalculates the finish date accordingly. A useful approach is to pick a goal you can sustain, because the tracker is designed to help you finish, not to pressure you.
Use the Progress Bar as a Motivator
The tracker records your current page as you go. Updating it regularly gives you a visual sense of movement. For a book like In Happy Valley, moving from page 20 to page 40 in two days shows real progress, even if you are not halfway yet. That can be more encouraging than thinking in terms of chapters, which vary in length.
The estimated remaining time is proportional to the pages left: estimated_minutes × remaining_pages / total_pages. So if you have read 50 of 116 pages, the remaining time is roughly half of the original estimate. That calculation keeps your expectations grounded.
Adjust the Page Count to Your Edition
The catalog does not always provide a fixed page count, so the initial estimate is based on 250 words per page. If your edition has a different layout, you can change the total. For example, a 28,831-word book might be 130 pages in a large-print edition. Updating the total keeps the finish date accurate.
The tracker stores your progress in your browser's localStorage, so no account is needed. You can close the page and come back later without losing your place.
Plan for the Whole Book
Once you finish a book, you can use the tracker for the next one. The daily goal stays the same, so you can build a consistent reading habit. For longer books, like the 127,432-word Before the Dawn: A Story of the Fall of Richmond — Reading Companion, the estimated page count is 510 pages. At 20 pages a day, that is about 26 days. Knowing that upfront helps you decide whether to start it now or save it for a longer stretch.
The tracker does not record minutes or sections, only pages. That simplicity is its strength: it gives you one clear number to focus on each day.