Far Rainbow / The 2nd Invasion from Mars

by Boris and Arkady Strugatski

Way better than "hard to be a god".  Except I think I would like to be a cookie-eating beer-drinking cow.

Buddhists Talk about Jesus, Christians Talk about the Buddha

edited by Rita M. Gross and Terry C. Muck

lots to think about

When you are Engulfed in Flames

by David Sedaris

This is like the opposite of once, in the sense that even the sad stories are happy.