How it works
Everything you add becomes a spine on one shelf, as wide as it takes to finish. Films use their running time. Shows multiply episodes by about 25, 45 or 60 minutes each, whichever you pick. Books divide pages by your reading pace, 50 pages an hour unless you change it: that's our estimate from about 300 words a page and the 238 to 260 words a minute that adults read silently on average (Brysbaert, 2019). Width grows with the logarithm of the time, so a 90-minute film and a 3-hour epic look different, and a 60-hour series still fits on a phone.
The shelf is ordered shortest first, so tonight's short one is at the left end. Filters narrow it to films, shows or books, under 90 minutes or under 2 hours, or one person's recommendations. Nothing is looked up online: lookups need keys and would send what you type elsewhere. Your shelf stays in this browser.
Questions people ask
- How long does it take to read a 300-page book?
- About six hours at 50 pages an hour, the pace this page assumes. That pace is our rule of thumb: about 300 words a page at about 250 words a minute (a 2019 review of 190 studies found adults read silently at 238 words a minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction). Set your own pace in Settings.
- What counts as a short film?
- There's no single line. A feature film is usually defined as 40 minutes or more (the BFI's definition, which follows award bodies such as the Academy). This shelf's length filters are "Under 90 min" and "Under 2 hours", because those are the evenings people search for.
- Why doesn't it look up titles, posters or runtimes?
- Because every lookup would send what you type to someone else, and the services that do it need keys (TMDB, OMDb) or ask not to be used this way (Open Library). You type the length once; it's on the box, the listing or the book's back cover.
- How do I tell the person who recommended it?
- When you mark something finished, add a line about what you thought, then "Tell Sam" drafts a message you can send from your phone or copy.
- Where is my list kept?
- Only in this browser on this device. Export a copy from Settings.