Quick Reads
Books under 30,000 words generally fall into the 'quick' category, with estimated reading times under 2 hours. For instance, 'Books Relating to Applied Science' is about 50 minutes.
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
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Remaining
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Estimated time left
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At your daily goal
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Stored locally
Reading history
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How the progress estimate works
The Reading tool gives you an estimate of how long it will take to read a book, based on its word count. The estimate assumes an average reading speed, so your actual time may vary. It's a rough guide to help you plan your reading, not a precise measurement.
You can use this tool to find books that fit your available time. The catalog groups books into four reading-time categories: quick (under an hour), steady (a few hours), immersive (a full day), and marathon (multiple days). For example, a 27,000-word book might take about 2 hours, while a 250,000-word volume could take over 18 hours.
Steady Reads
Medium-length books, around 40,000 to 70,000 words, are 'steady' reads. They might take 3 to 5 hours, like 'Petroleum — Themes and Context' at 201 minutes.
Marathon Reads
Longer works, over 200,000 words, are 'marathon' reads. These can take many days, such as 'Modern Machine-Shop Practice' at over 58 hours.
Sustainable Progress: Using Pages to Finish What You Start
The Reading Tracker in the UNBEJ library helps you plan and sustain reading progress. It records your current page, total pages, and a daily page goal. Progress is measured in pages, not sections or minutes. If the catalog does not provide a fixed page count, the tracker estimates total pages as ceil(word_count / 250). You can replace this estimate with the total from your own reading app or edition.
The tracker also estimates remaining time and finish days based on your daily goal. For example, if you are reading a book with 200 total pages and you are on page 50, with a daily goal of 20 pages, the tracker will show that you have 150 pages left, which will take about 8 days (ceil(150/20)). This simple calculation can turn a vague intention into a concrete plan.
Setting a Realistic Daily Goal
The default daily goal is 20 pages. That is a reasonable starting point for many readers. For a book like "Mechanical Devices in the Home — A Closer Reading" (id 263), which has an estimated 207 pages (51,691 words divided by 250), a 20-page daily goal would mean finishing in about 11 days. That is a manageable commitment for a 225-minute estimated reading time.
You can adjust the goal to fit your schedule. If you have more time, you might set 30 pages a day and finish in 7 days. If you have less, 10 pages a day would take about 21 days. The tracker's estimate of finish days is based on ceil(remaining_pages / daily_page_goal), so it always rounds up to the next whole day. This helps you see the minimum number of days required, not a precise date.
The tracker does not record sections or minutes as progress. It only counts pages. This is a deliberate choice to keep the focus on a consistent, measurable unit. You might find that some books have a page count that does not match your edition. In that case, you can manually update the total pages to match your physical or digital copy. This ensures the estimates are accurate for your situation.
Using the Tracker with Example Books
Consider a book like "Mechanical Devices in the Home — A Closer Reading" (id 263). It has 51,691 words, which gives an estimated total of 207 pages. If you start at page 1 and set a daily goal of 20 pages, the tracker will estimate that you will finish in about 11 days. The estimated remaining time is proportional: estimated_minutes × remaining_pages / total_pages. So, with 207 remaining pages, the remaining time is 225 × 207 / 207 = 225 minutes, or about 3.75 hours. That is a useful number to know.
Another example is "Pneumatic conveying — Reading Notes" (id 304), with 23,708 words. That is about 95 pages. With a 20-page daily goal, you could finish in 5 days. The estimated reading time is 104 minutes, so the actual reading time is under 2 hours. This shows how the tracker can help you plan for short books as well as long ones.
The tracker stores your progress in localStorage in your current browser. No account is required, so you can use it without signing up. If you switch browsers or devices, you will need to re-enter your progress. This is a simple tool, but it is effective for building a reading habit. By focusing on pages and a daily goal, you can make steady progress through even the longest books in the library.