Book Review Guide original data
Average Book Length by Genre: Data From 247 Books (2026)
We looked at the page counts of 247 books we've reviewed to see how long a typical book is, and how much that changes from one genre to another. The median book is 400 pages long; the average is 437 pages. Long books pull the average above the middle book.
At either end are Wild Symphony, with 44 pages, and Wind and Truth, with 1,344.
What We Found
- The book right in the middle of our sample is 400 pages long.
- 51.4% of the books we reviewed have at least 400 pages; 24.7% reach 500.
- Historical fiction runs longest by median, at 535 pages.
- Classics comes out shortest by median, at 324 pages. That's 211 fewer than historical fiction.
- Wild Symphony is our shortest book at 44 pages; Wind and Truth is the longest at 1,344.
How Many Pages Is the Average Book?
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Our average is 437 pages, while the book in the middle is 400 pages long. Long books pull the average above the middle book.
Average Book Length by Genre
Here are the genres where we have at least five reviewed books with page counts, starting with the highest median. A book can belong to more than one genre, so the group totals overlap.
| Genre | Books | Average | Median | Shortest | Longest | 400+ Pages | 500+ Pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Historical fiction | 27 | 559 | 535 | 128 | 1,040 | 77.8% | 55.6% |
| Thriller | 43 | 426 | 416 | 176 | 688 | 60.5% | 18.6% |
| Fantasy | 90 | 465 | 403 | 64 | 1,344 | 55.6% | 30% |
| Nonfiction | 20 | 405 | 400 | 246 | 720 | 55% | 10% |
| Romance | 29 | 454 | 400 | 288 | 1,040 | 58.6% | 20.7% |
| Science fiction | 74 | 409 | 399.5 | 160 | 896 | 50% | 23% |
| Horror | 17 | 416 | 384 | 88 | 1,040 | 47.1% | 23.5% |
| Classics | 45 | 385 | 324 | 64 | 1,024 | 35.6% | 22.2% |
Which Genres Have the Longest Books?
Historical fiction leads our sample: its median is 535 pages, compared with 400 for all the books we reviewed. We have 27 books in that group.
Next come thriller (416 pages) and fantasy (403 pages). Those are the middle books in each group, not a promise about every title on the shelf.
Which Genres Have the Shortest Books?
Classics is at the other end, with a median of 324 pages. Even here, length varies: the shortest has 64 pages and the longest has 1,024.
The next lowest medians belong to horror at 384 pages and science fiction at 399.5 pages.
How Long Are the Books We Reviewed?
The biggest group is 301-400 pages: 86 books, or 34.8% of our sample. The bars show how the rest compare.
- 1-100 pages4 books (1.6%)
- 101-200 pages15 books (6.1%)
- 201-300 pages26 books (10.5%)
- 301-400 pages86 books (34.8%)
- 401-500 pages55 books (22.3%)
- 501-600 pages25 books (10.1%)
- 601-700 pages13 books (5.3%)
- 701-800 pages8 books (3.2%)
- 801-900 pages3 books (1.2%)
- 901-1000 pages3 books (1.2%)
- 1001+ pages9 books (3.6%)
51.4% of our books reach 400 pages, and 24.7% reach 500.
Book Length Distribution by Genre
Each number is a book count. Brighter cells mean more books in that range, using the same scale for every genre.
| Genre | 1-100 | 101-200 | 201-300 | 301-400 | 401-500 | 501-600 | 601-700 | 701-800 | 801-900 | 901-1000 | 1001+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Historical fiction | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Thriller | 0 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fantasy | 2 | 7 | 7 | 29 | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Nonfiction | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Romance | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Science fiction | 0 | 7 | 8 | 24 | 18 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Horror | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Classics | 3 | 2 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Three Books That Show the Range
Our shortest book, a book near the average, and our longest: three very different reading commitments.
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Shortest
Wild Symphony
Dan Brown
44 pages · childrens literature
Read our reviewNear the average
The Eternity Cure
Julie Kagawa
434 pages · fantasy
Read our reviewLongest
Wind and Truth
Brandon Sanderson
1,344 pages · fantasy
Read our reviewReal Examples by Genre
These are the shortest and longest books in each group, with a third book as close to the group's average as possible.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Linked titles open Amazon when an affiliate link is available; otherwise, they open our review.
Historical fiction
Thriller
Fantasy
Nonfiction
Romance
Science fiction
Horror
Classics
Average vs. Median Book Length
If we added up every page and shared them evenly among our 247 books, each would have about 437 pages. That's the average. Line the books up from shortest to longest instead, and the middle gives us the median: 400 pages. With an even number of books, we use the average of the two in the middle.
A long book can still fly by. To see how pace and difficulty differ from physical length, try our reading profiles by genre.
Book Length at a Glance
- Books reviewed
- 247
- Average pages
- 437
- Median pages
- 400
- Shortest book, pages
- 44
- Longest book, pages
- 1,344
- 400+ pages
- 51.4%
- 500+ pages
- 24.7%
About the Data
We built this from books we've actually reviewed, including novels, nonfiction, and shorter works. We include a book when its catalog record has a positive whole-number page count, a title, a slug, and a genre tag. Preview pages are left out.
We use the page count for the edition stored in our catalog. A different format or layout can change that number. Our genre comparisons use the tags you see elsewhere on the site, with at least five books needed for a group to appear.
When we add another reviewed book with a valid page count, the numbers, examples, and downloadable CSV update with the next site build. We round averages to whole pages and percentages to one decimal place when needed.
How to Cite This Data
Book Review Guide. "Average Book Length by Genre: Data From 247 Books." 2026.
If you use these figures, please link back to this page so readers can find the figures and see how we worked them out.