Beloved by the numbers

Toni Morrison · first published 1987 · dataset 2026-10-24

Beloved is 324 pages, about 89,000 words, which takes roughly 5 h 56 min to read at an average pace. It appears 5 times on sourced U.S. school reading lists in 2 states, ranking #1,331 of 2,809 listed books.

Who it is not for: readers below 12th grade: no school list in our data assigns it earlier.

324pageslonger than 84.0% of the 2,330 listed books with a page count
5 h 56 minreading time at 250 wpmestimate, see below
#1,331of 2,809 listed books5 list appearances
39years since first published17.0% of the 2,514 listed books with a publication year were published before it

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Beloved
Toni Morrison

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Length and reading time

Pages (dataset edition)324
Estimated words89,000
Reading time, 300 wpm (fast)4 h 57 min
Reading time, 250 wpm (average adult)5 h 56 min
Reading time, 200 wpm (careful / younger reader)7 h 26 min
Days at 20 minutes a day18
Lexile measure870L

At 324 pages, Beloved is longer than 84.0% of the 2,330 books on the reading lists we track whose page count we know (2,809 books are tracked in all). It is longer than the median book listed for grades 9-12 (273 pages).

How long Beloved is, next to other listed books
How long Beloved is, next to other listed booksBeloved is 324 pages; the median book listed for grades 9-12 is 273 pages and the median of all 2,330 listed books with a page count is 187.Beloved324 pagesMedian book listed for grades 9-12273 pagesMedian of all listed books187 pages

Beloved is 324 pages; the median book listed for grades 9-12 is 273 pages and the median of all 2,330 listed books with a page count is 187.

Source: Page counts of 2,330 books on U.S. school reading lists, bookstatistics.com · Dataset snapshot 2026-10-24

Show the numbers
BookPages
Beloved324 pages
Median book listed for grades 9-12273 pages
Median of all listed books187 pages

Word counts and reading times are estimates: pages × 275 words, divided by the reading speed. Your edition's page count and your own pace will differ.

Where Beloved is on school reading lists

5 appearances (0.0% of all 20,804 listings in the dataset), drawn from 5 published lists, in grades 12th. 5 of the 5 carry a link to the published source document.

States (2): California, New York.

GradeListings
12th5

Sources

Questions

How many pages is Beloved?

Beloved by Toni Morrison is 324 pages in the edition recorded in our dataset. Page counts vary by edition and format; at about 275 words per page that is roughly 89,000 words.

How long does it take to read Beloved?

About 5 h 56 min at an average adult pace of 250 words per minute (4 h 57 min at 300 wpm, 7 h 26 min at 200 wpm). At 20 minutes a day that is about 18 days.

Is Beloved on school reading lists?

Yes. It appears 5 times on the U.S. school reading lists, award lists and curricula in our dataset, in 2 states plus 2 national-curriculum listings, most often in grades 9-12. That ranks it #1,331 of 2,809 listed books.

Related

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