About ShelfLook

ShelfLook tells you how long a book takes to read and in what order a series should be read. It is an independent site made by one person, with no publisher or bookshop behind it.

How we calculate reading time

We take the book's page count, assume about 275 words on a page, and divide the word count by a reading speed. The default speed is 250 words a minute, an ordinary pace for adult fiction; the slider on any book page changes it. The page count is the median across the editions on record, so your copy may be longer or shorter.

The estimate is rough for books that are not plain prose: illustrated books, poetry, textbooks with tables and dense academic writing all take more or less time per page than the figure assumes.

How series order is decided

A series page lists the books in the order the publisher numbers them. When no number is on record, the books are shown in publication order, and the page says so. Companion books and prequels keep their place in the numbered order where one exists.

Summaries and content warnings

Where a book has no description on record, a short summary is written by an AI model and checked by a second model against a published account of the plot. Content warnings are chosen the same way from a fixed list of eight terms (violence, sexual content, death of a child, animal death, suicide, abuse, war, drug use). A warning that is shown has been checked; a warning that is missing may simply not have been found, so treat the list as a starting point, not a guarantee.

Where the data comes from

Titles, authors, page counts, descriptions and cover images come from public library catalogue records. They contain mistakes; our reading times inherit them.

Last updated 6 October 2026.