>>1
Stanislav Lem, "Fiasco". About an attempt at contact with a life-form. Bear with horrible opening story (you might consider dropping it altogether). When the ship finally starts off, the book suddenly becomes absolutely worth it. It really is a good read on aliens. Ending is a little bit meh, but who cares, because the actual contact process is awesome.
Has nothing to do with "Stranger", though. It's about aliens that, sans a few features, might have actually been real.
>>2
Oh God, a retard on the Internet!