Bill Folman. William Morrow. 438 pages. $24.95.

The story in Bill Folman's debut novel is made up, but the reader's enjoyment is real. The book focuses on the machinations behind the campaign of Sen. Ben Phillips, who is running for president. On paper, Phillips sounds like a great candidate. But he's down 20 points in the polls with less than three months to Election Day. Voters just don't connect with him. So a wily veteran staffer comes up with a novel plan to improve his public character: Put out a bogus story that Phillips cheated on his wife long ago. The fallout from that plan and assorted other disasters makes for an engaging and clever story.

-- The Associated Press

Serves: 5

2 cups water

1 cup honey

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

2 cups club soda, cold

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a small saucepan, combine the water, honey and ginger. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat, cover and let steep for 10 minutes.

Place a mesh strainer over a bowl and strain the mixture into it, discarding the ginger. Transfer the mixture to a pitcher and cool completely.

Stir in the soda and lemon juice. Serve over ice.

-- Recipe from the April/May issue of Taste of Home magazine

124 minutes. Rated PG-13.

Denzel Washington directs and stars in an upbeat tale about Melvin B. Tolson, a 1930s professor at a small Texas college for black students who challenges racial divides by assembling a world-class debate team that winds up in a showdown with the golden-tongued squad from Harvard. His unlikely, three-student team consists of a night-prowling tough guy (Nate Parker), an emancipated but naive young woman (Charissa Allen) and a precocious 15-year-old (Denzel Whitaker), who will grow up to be noted civil rights leader James Farmer. The DVD extras include deleted scenes, commentary by

Washington, a background featurette and two music videos. On the two-disc set, the extras also include a few featurettes and an interview with co-star Forest Whitaker.

Other new DVDs out this week: "Youth Without Youth," "Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection," "Untraceable," "A Raisin in the Sun," "Mad Money," "The Rat Pack Ultimate Collector's Edition," "Frank Sinatra: The Golden Years," "Frank Sinatra: The Early Years," "The Frank Sinatra & Gene Kelly Collection," "Two and a Half Men: The Complete Third Season," "Saturday Night Live: The Complete Third Season," "The Adams Chronicles," "Walk All Over Me," "Graduation," "Cover," "Bon Cop Bad Cop," "Le Chinoise," "Le Gai Savoir"

-- P-I staff and news services

Serves: 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

8 ounces whole-wheat pasta, such as rotini

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, sliced thin

5 ounces snap peas, cut into 1/2-inch lengths

1 bunch asparagus, tips only (top inch or so), stalks reserved for other use

1 tablespoon minced lemon zest

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup butter

1 tablespoon thinly sliced mint

6 tablespoons fresh ricotta

1/4 cup toasted, coarsely chopped hazelnuts

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until al dente, about 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until softened and slightly brown, 7-10 minutes. Add snap peas, asparagus and lemon juice, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer pasta to saute pan, and add 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water to pan. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until water is almost absorbed and peas and asparagus are bright green, but tender, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat butter in a small pan over high heat, swirling as butter begins to change color. As soon as the butter browns, about 4 minutes, remove from heat.

Stir mint and lemon zest into pasta, and divide pasta among four bowls. Top each bowl with 1 1/2 tablespoons ricotta, 1/4 of the hazelnuts, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon brown butter.

-- San Francisco Chronicle

Rated: Everyone Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and 2, Wii, PlayStation 2, PSP (2K Sports)

2K's new edition of the national pastime introduces "total pitch control," in which you have to trace a pattern with the right analog stick (on the Xbox and PlayStation versions) to choose a pitch. You also use the analog sticks to control batting and fielding. Base-running also benefits from more intuitive controls, but you can also play by simply pressing buttons. Unfortunately, the graphics sometimes stutter or temporarily freeze in the midst of the action.

-- The Associated Press

"ACCORDING TO JIM"

8 p.m. KOMO/4

Dana hypnotizes Andy to find out the cause of his breakups.

"NCIS"

8 p.m. KIRO/7

A new assistant director is in the house, and we all know what that means. Uh, what does that mean?

"NOVA"

8 p.m. KCTS/9

Three Ethiopian women with childbirth injuries find solace at a hospital in Addis Ababa.

"FRONTLINE"

9 p.m. KCTS/9

World-renowned climber and filmmaker David Breashears returns to the scene of Mount Everest's worst tragedy.

"HELL'S KITCHEN"

9 p.m. KCPQ/13

Chef Ramsay conducts a blindfold taste-test challenge.

"SECRETS THAT SELL"

9 p.m. HGTV

A family has not had offers on its house after five months.

"SHARK"

10 p.m. KIRO/7

Don't adjust your sets. That's not a corpse on "CSI." It's Hugh Hefner making a cameo.

"WORK OUT"

10 p.m. Bravo

Jackie takes the Skylabbers on a life-changing weekend.

"THE ALASKA EXPERIMENT"

10 p.m. Discovery

The struggle for food, water and warmth continues as winter begins in Alaska.

"SEX: THE REVOLUTION"

10 p.m. VH1

Liberated sexuality in the 1960s.

"SECRET LIVES OF WOMEN"

10 p.m. WE

What's life really like for Mrs. Tony Soprano?

"IRON RING"

10:30 p.m. BET

Mike Easton and Ameer Richard battle for a spot on Team Dipset.

-- P-I staff and news services