Did Manolo Pedrosa Really Read 41 Books During the Quarantine?

Did Manolo Pedrosa, a former contestant on Pinoy Big Brother and now a TV star, really read 41 books during the quarantine? He certainly claims to have done so. The media even did a write up about this feat which he posted on all his social media pages.

 https://www.instagram.com/p/CBFkGAzlnPL/?igshid=wzclc46asy5q

CRAZY! I was able to read 41 books since the start of this quarantine!⠀ 

This quarantine too has been crazy; I know this has been tough on all of us—so I just want to share my journey in a wholesome way—Let's begin.⠀ 

"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves." -Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning⠀ 

1. Mindset: I didn't want to get bogged down in this quarantine but alas, I can't do anything about it, I'm stuck at home! What I can do is change my perception; create purpose—this is an opportunity to work on myself and my goals—so how did I?⠀ 

2. Systems: A process of organizing your day by instilling desired habits at specific time blocks—this can help make it automatic to do—with the quarantine, we are virtually living in repetitive days; such environment's conducive for systems.⠀ 

3. Contentment: With the restrictions of quarantine—for example, I couldn't go to the gym which is my #1 passion—I accepted that and learned to be creative on how I can still train effectively; I realized you could get away without requiring much—I was even able to build muscle! (Only thing I can't be content with is a lack of a haircut.)⠀ 

4. Solitude: As an introvert, solitude is familiar territory but it is still a challenge especially in the quarantine; self-communication is an underrated skill—You got to master yourself first before anything else; I daresay solitude is meta for personal growth.⠀ 

5. Deep work: Distraction-free bouts of intense focus; being fully committed to the task at hand—to do this, I had my phone off majority of the time which means not much social media. (I know but it has just been bad news.) With enough practice, you can enter the flow state, and then you'll be wondering where all the time went actually enjoying your newfound habits.⠀ 

Okay, there's definitely more to be said here but then the post would go on forever lmao. I'll definitely continue doing these as we transition to our new normal.⠀ 

What have you gained this quarantine? ⠀Stay safe everyone, never stop learning!

Indeed that is rather CRAZY. I sent him a tweet asking for a list of the books he read but he did not respond.

https://twitter.com/FilipinoFollies/status/1270901311031164928

So did he really do it? Did he read 41 books in 2.5 months which is 11 weeks? That would be 3-4 books per week. Is that even possible? More importantly is it likely? Let's do the math.

First because he did not provide a list of books we will have to make some educated guesses about how long it will take to read an average book. In his picture Manolo is holding The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. The particular version he is holding has a page count of 209. Audible.com has several copies of this book and reading times vary from 4 hours 32 minutes to 7 hours and 39 minutes.

https://www.audible.com/author/Marcus-Aurelius/B000AR7YUW?ref=a_search_c3_lAuthor_1_1_1&pf_rd_p=e81b7c27-6880-467a-b5a7-13cef5d729fe&pf_rd_r=7G3W3E3880VR75EJVFJQ

Two other books he claims that he read are “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl and “The E-Myth” by Michael Gerber.

Man's Search for Meaning has a page count of 192 and a reading time of 4 hours and 44 minutes.

https://www.audible.com/search?keywords=“Man’s+Search+for+Meaning”&ref=a_author_Ma_t1_header_search

The next book, "The E-Myth," is not on audible but the updated version is. The reading time for that book, which is 288 pages, is 8 hours and 5 minutes.

https://www.audible.com/search?keywords=“Man’s+Search+for+Meaning”&ref=a_author_Ma_t1_header_search

Without question all 41 books he claims to have read will be of varying lengths. An average book is anywhere from 200-300 pages. That means a reading time of anywhere between 4.5 to 8 hours. If we take the median time we get roughly 6 hours to read a book. That data set is as follows:

4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8

Now let's do the math.

41 books.

6 hours per book.

That is 246 hours or 10 days.

The period of the quarantine was from March 16th to May 31. That is 77 days or 1,848 hours.

Now let's attempt to break down his days. 8 hours each day for sleep is 616 hours. That leaves 1,232 hours.

He says he was able to train and even build muscle during the quarantine. Let's allow 90 minutes for each workout period which includes getting ready, the workout, and a shower. If he works out 6 days a week that is 66 days over a period of 11 weeks. That comes to 99 hours. Now we have 1,133 hours left.

But he also has to eat. I am not aware of his living conditions. Does he live with his parents? Does someone else do all the cooking and cleaning and washing? If yes then eating will hardly take up any time. But if he has to prepare his own meals and clean up afterwards then that must factor in to his eating time. To prepare, eat, and clean up I will allot an hour per meal. That is 3 hours a day or 225 hours. Now we have 908 hours left.

908 hours is plenty of time to have read 41 books in 77 days. In fact if all Manolo did was read for 6 hours a day he could have potentially read 77 books during the quarantine. Manolo claims that he basically turned off his social media accounts during that time and focused on reading. He also says he was in solitude which made the task easier. It must be noted that all these calculation are based on optimal conditions. That means no oversleeping.

So is it possible that Manolo Pedrosa sat down all day and read 41 books in 2.5 months? Yes. Is it likely? What do you think?