Gaiman is always a solid read for me. I like his voice. He takes great care in crafting the cadence of things and if you hear him read his stories then things click. Sometimes this works well, other times it feels a bit off, a bit too manufactured in order to sound fairy-tale esk. It makes it so most his books are just okay for me, with a couple exceptions.

That, in tandem with short story collections, which are always up and down. I don’t think I’ve ever read a collection where every story was great for me. Some stories are great, some I actually would just skip ahead, which is one of the joys of collections, imo. Don’t like a story? Turn 5 pages and start a new one. You’re all set.