Reading Reading

Introduction

Today (March 2025), Frankenstein is the top book on Project Gutenberg. Reading it is worth the time. I can say that only because I know how long that book takes to read.

Frankenstein is almost exactly 75,000 words. The average reader reads silently at just over 200 words per minute.

\begin{align*} \text{Time to Read Frankenstein} &= \frac{75000 \text{ words}}{200 \text{ words per minute}} \\\\ &= 375 \text{ minutes} \\\\ &= 6 \text{ hours and 15 minutes} \end{align*}
Today, the top show on Prime Video has eight 50-minute episodes. That is 6 hours and 40 minutes. You can finish Frankenstein 25 minutes faster than that show.

Reading Goals

Books are usually measured in pages. Pages are not a great measure, as they come in many different sizes, fonts, spacings, and margins. Word counts are a better measure, but they are not as easily found.

The average book ranges from 50,000 to 100,000 words. Using the same math as above, those books take 4-8 hours to read. Here is a table on how reading time translates to books read per year, assuming each book takes 6 hours:

\begin{align*} &\text{Reading Time} & \quad & \text{Books Read (per year)} \\\\ &1 \text{ hour a day} & \quad & 60 \text{ books} \\\\ &5 \text{ hours a week} & \quad & 43 \text{ books} \\\\ &1 \text{ hour a week} & \quad & 8 \frac{2}{3} \text{ books} \\\\ &1 \text{ minute a day} & \quad & 1.01 \text{ books} \\\\ \end{align*}
I hope this is good news.

Roughly a year ago, I put a book in my car which I only read there. Since then, I have had to replace my car book twice. I was surprised by how much I read, but then I did the math. 15 minutes of reading a week is 13 hours a year, about two books.

The Worth

If your definition of relaxation or leisure is to go cross-eyed, drool, and let flashing lights and loud noises numb you into oblivion, then reading might not be bearable. If you cannot watch TV without scrolling on your phone, reading might be too boring. I'm sure the monks envy your ability to empty your mind of all thought. Congratulations! You have reached the peak of your existence, as you certainly will be exactly who you are for the rest of your life. You have answered your questions with numbness, the only surefire way to answer them without being annoyed by more questions.

That's the downside of reading. If you read great books, you will be far from the peak of your existence. You will have a huge hill to climb, a hill whose base is a lot closer to you than its peak. You will think too much, know too much, and there will be too much which you have to do. Every year, you will look back on who you were a year ago and see a stranger. There is no oblivion, no perpetual stupor to comfort you while you sit and rot. Hopefully, a life of progress, fulfillment, and goodness will make up for the loss.

Reading List

Here are some of my favorites. They are all in the public domain, so they can be read online for free.

Adventure Books
Tarzan of the Apes - Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Return of Tarzan - Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
Dracula - Bram Stoker
The Man Who Was Thursday - G. K. Chesterton

Religious Books
The Book of Mormon
Orthodoxy - G. K. Chesterton
A Confession - Leo Tolstoy
Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse
In His Steps - Charles M. Sheldon

Children's Books
The Princess and the Goblin - George MacDonald
The Princess and Curdie - George MacDonald
Heidi - Johanna Spyri
Just So Stories - Rudyard Kipling
Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

Fantastic Books I Don't Want to Categorize
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Innocence of Father Brown - G. K. Chesterton
Sir Gibbie - George MacDonald
Memoirs of My Services in the World War - George C. Marshall
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin