How many pages should you read per day to finish a book?

Short answer

Divide the pages left by the number of actual reading days before your deadline, then round up. If you have 240 pages left and 12 reading days, the target is 20 pages a day. If your pace is about 2 minutes per page, that is roughly 40 minutes a day.

For the exact number, use the pages per day calculator. The important part is that you count reading days, not every calendar day.

Why calendar days can mislead you

A 300-page book due in 15 days sounds like 20 pages a day. That only works if you can read every day.

If you skip weekends, the same deadline may leave 11 reading days. Now the target is 28 pages a day. The book did not change. Your available week did.

That difference matters because a plan that starts too low usually fails near the end, when there is no easy room left to recover.

Use time as a reality check

Page targets are useful, but time tells you whether the number can fit your day.

• 15 pages at a normal pace may be about 30 minutes.
• 30 pages may be about an hour.
• A careful textbook pace may be slower than a novel pace.

If the daily time looks too high, change one of the real constraints: extend the deadline, read on more days, or choose a shorter book for this period.

Turn the number into a plan

Once you know the daily target, write it somewhere visible:

• pages left
• finish date
• reading days
• minimum daily target
• recovery rule for missed days

The reading plan template is built for that step. A good target is not just a number. It is the next page you can act on today.