I didn't start this book in a positive frame of mind - that weirdly pretentious heavy-on-the-name-dropping introduction felt like the author was trying to upsell a low-quality product before we'd even started. It made me sad, because I've really loved most of the Gamain novels that I've read. But not every author is as good with short stories as they are with full length novels, and I thought perhaps that was the case here. 
 Luckily, I was (mostly) incorrect in that first impression - most of the stories aren't bad. Some are pretty good. Out of the first 23 stories, I liked "A Lunar Labyrinth", "The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury", and "The Sleeper and the Spindle" the most. The rest were mostly okay to good. This was going to be a three star book all along, but then the "Black Dog" novella bumped this up to four stars all by itself. American Gods is one of my favorite books, and the nostalgic joy of seeing Shadow again completely changed my outlook on the overall collection. 
 So, three stars overall, four if you're an American Gods fan who appreciates the chance for a few more moments with Shadow. Normally I round down when my review includes half stars, but this is my first book of 2016, so I'll be generous. ^_^ 
 Annual Popsugar Reading Challenge: a book of short stories