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Winter Reading 2025

At Bookreporter.com, we kicked off 2025 with our 10th annual Winter Reading Contests and Feature. We hosted a series of 24-hour contests spotlighting a book releasing this winter and gave five lucky readers a chance to win it.

Even though our contests have wrapped up, we encourage you to take a look at this year's featured titles, as these are books you will want to read during the winter months --- and into the warmer ones!

Scott Turow, author of Presumed Guilty

Rusty Sabich is a retired judge attempting a third act in life with a loving soon-to-be wife, Bea. But the peace that’s taken Rusty so long to find evaporates when Bea’s young adult son, Aaron, living under their supervision while on probation for drug possession, disappears. If Aaron doesn’t return soon, he will be sent back to jail. Aaron eventually turns up with a vague story about a camping trip with his troubled girlfriend, Mae, that ended in a fight and a long hitchhike home. Days later, when she still hasn’t returned, suspicion falls on Aaron. And when Mae is subsequently discovered dead, Aaron is arrested and set for trial on charges of first-degree murder. Faced with few choices and even fewer hopes, Bea begs Rusty to return to court one last time, to defend her son and to save their last best hope for happiness.

Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow

February 2025

PRESUMED GUILTY is Scott Turow’s third book featuring Rusty Sabich as his protagonist. Many of us remember reading PRESUMED INNOCENT and INNOCENT, so I was happy to catch up with this iconic character again.

Rusty is now 77, living in a quiet town and working his way towards retirement. He’s in a relationship with a woman he wants to marry, and life is looking good. Bea has a son, Aaron, who she adopted as a baby. Aaron has been through some tough times, but he’s getting his life in gear and on the right track. Until he’s charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Mae, the daughter of the local prosecutor. Aaron is a Black man being brought up in an all-white community --- and prejudice will rear its head here.