How long does it take to read The Body Keeps the Score?
Bessel van der Kolk
At an average reading speed of 250 words a minute, The Body Keeps the Score takes 10 hours 5 minutes to read. The unabridged audiobook runs 16 hours at 1x, or 11 hours at 1.5x.
Bessel van der Kolk's book on trauma is one of the longer non-fiction books in our study, and its subject makes it heavy going for many readers. Plenty of people read it in short sessions with breaks between, which is a sensible way to take it.
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 narrated by Sean Pratt (16:15) 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 The Body Keeps the Score?
About 10 hours at an average reading speed of 250 words a minute: 13 hours at 200 and 8h 24m at 300.
How many words are in The Body Keeps the Score?
About 151,125 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 The Body Keeps the Score in a month?
About 19 pages a day, or 21m of reading a day at an average pace. That assumes about 550 pages at 275 words a page; real page counts vary by edition.
How long would it take at 30 minutes a day?
About three weeks: the whole book is just over 10 hours at an average pace.
How long is The Body Keeps the Score audiobook?
16 hours 15 minutes unabridged, narrated by Sean Pratt. At 1.5x, about 10 hours 50 minutes.