These two volumes have two editors in common, Haddington and Nevile, and each volume has two additional editors. Interacting with objects contains an introduction by its four editors, in which they introduce the concept of object, ethnomethodology, and conversation analysis as the primary perspectives taken in the fifteen studies presented in the volume, and introduce themes they have identified across those studies: objects for instructing, knowing, order, time, and occasion and objects as meaningful, relevant, invoked, constituted, and negotiated. The fifteen chapters are organised into two parts: ‘Objects as situated resources’ and ‘Objects as practical accomplishments’. The chapter authors analyse language use in a range of contexts, from public bar, kitchen, and health centre to self-service store, plumbers' meeting, and hospital operating room; and in a range of languages, such as Danish, English, Finnish, French, Italian, Japanese, and Swedish. The objects in focus in the studies range from paper documents, computers, vacuum cleaners, and entertainment systems to textile materials, an imaginary ball, and artwork. There is also an epilogue in which Ben Matthews comments on issues arising from the research presented in the volume as a whole.

The shorter companion volume, Multiactivity in social interaction, contains two introductory chapters and seven other chapters. The first introduction chapter, by the four editors, introduces key concepts in the analysis of multiactivity, including the ethnomethodology and conversation analysis perspectives, which it shares with the other volume. It also connects the multiactivity concept with the previously researched concept of ‘multitasking’, and explains how the studies in this volume, unlike previous studies, approach multitasking as interactional and social in character. The second introduction chapter, by one of the editors, Lorenza Mondada, focuses particularly on the analysis of temporal orders through the example of surgeons managing multiactivity in the operating room. Part 2 of the volume also focuses on temporality, so Mondada's chapter may have been better placed there than in the introduction. Part 3 focuses on interruption and resumption of activities, and part 4 on involvements and participation frameworks.

As in the object-focused volume, this multiactivity volume includes studies in a range of contexts, from prenatal ultrasound examinations, a travel agency, and everyday interactions to Skype video calls, judicial hearings, and paramedic emergency drills; and in a range of languages, such as English, Finnish, German, Italian, French, and Japanese. This volume, however, has no concluding or epilogue chapter to pull issues or themes from the studies together.

As expected, given the ethnomethodology and conversation analysis perspectives taken, all of the studies in both volumes present very detailed analyses of language in use. As well, though, almost all chapters include video freeze-frames or line drawings derived from video to make visible the material, temporal, and embodied nature of the interactions analysed. Together, the two volumes present a wealth of data and insightful analysis, which take us well beyond earlier language-only focused approaches to social interaction.