My attitude to change can be called ambivalent at best, so imagine my delight when I came across this wonderful collection of things from the recent past, either extinct or endangered. It’s a cheery and fond farewell of some great (and some not so great) stuff and if you’re of a certain age, it will trigger a lot of fond memories. Great fun, and I shall go now and listen to my mixtapes.

How can it be so hard to review a book that had me sighing and nodding in agreement all the way through? A book that started so many conversations in this house .... "Oh, do you remember ......"; "bloody hell, I've not thought of those for years ....."; "now I'm craving ....." This is not a story, it's not fiction, nor is it a history book ~ well, I suppose it is in a way. I defy anyone over the age of 35 to read this without exclaiming in joy at least ten times throughout. I remember EVERYTHING in this book - every single thing. The shops on the High Street, and not just Woolworths, but Athena and Our Price and C&A (did every C&A smell a bit funny, or was that just the Lincoln branch?). I remember the frustration of arriving in town at 2pm on Wednesday and remembering that it's bloody HALF DAY CLOSING. Black Jacks and Fruit Salad chews at half a penny each; Spangles and sweet cigarettes; reading Mandy comic and always having a 2p coin so that we could ring Dial-a-Disc from the red telephone box. 21st Century Dodos brings back so many memories, and yes, I do look back fondly and it's easy to forget that this was mainly the 70s - the decade of very bad fashion mistakes, and terrible disco pants and rock stars who wore platform boots and glittery eyeshadow (and that was the men). This is perfect book for one of those evenings or summer afternoon when you get all of your friends round, down a few bottles and start reminiscing about the 'good old days'. It will spark so many memories, so many conversations and I'd guess there would be a fair few arguments too. This is funny and charming and will make you crave things that you'd not thought about in years. The writing is great, not stuffy or text-book like - it's easy and friendly and I loved it. I loved every page.

This is a great collection of all those things that you fondly remember from your childhood (yes even a young whipper snapper like me found plenty to part the fog of memory) that are either no longer in existence or rapidly on their way out. Each item has its own little entry with each separated into separate categories from home and school to the cinema and newsagents. Entries range from cassette tapes and mini discs to chopper bicycles and roller skates (skates not blades). This is a great trip down memory lane and a perfect opportunity for those who don't remember these things to find out what all the fuss is about.