How long does it take to read Becoming?
Michelle Obama
At an average reading speed of 250 words a minute, Becoming takes 11 hours 49 minutes to read. The unabridged audiobook runs 19 hours at 1x, or 13 hours at 1.5x.
Michelle Obama's memoir is long: the second-longest non-fiction book in our study, after Thinking, Fast and Slow. Its 24 chapters are in three sections, Becoming Me, Becoming Us and Becoming More, and each works as a week's reading.
Average is about 250 WPM. Measure yours in two minutes and every time on this page recalculates.
How much to read a day
At 250 words a minute, to finish the book:
Have a deadline in mind? The pages-per-day calculator works it out for any date.
How we measured it
Method: audiobook estimate. Estimated from the unabridged audiobook read by Michelle Obama (19:03; Libro.fm lists 19:01) at 155 words a minute.
Part of our study of the 100 most popular books, last checked November 2026. Reading times assume steady reading; editions, translations and your own pace all move them.
See how long it really takes you
Log it in Parch as you read. It tracks your pages, sessions and streak, so you'll know your real pace, and how long the next one will take.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read Becoming?
About 12 hours at an average reading speed of 250 words a minute: 15 hours at 200 and 9h 51m at 300.
How many words are in Becoming?
About 177,165 words. That's estimated from the unabridged audiobook at a narration pace of 155 words a minute, so treat it as close, not exact.
How many pages a day to finish Becoming in a month?
About 22 pages a day, or 24m of reading a day at an average pace. That assumes about 644 pages at 275 words a page; real page counts vary by edition.
How long is the Becoming audiobook?
19 hours 3 minutes unabridged, read by Michelle Obama. It won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album in 2020. At 1.5x, about 12 hours 42 minutes.
How many chapters does Becoming have?
24, in three sections. By our estimate they average about 30 minutes of reading each.