The rationale behind this special issue is to underscore the importance of studying instructional materials in context--that is, how materials and textbooks are used by teachers and learners. Research on teaching materials needs to reach beyond traditional 'armchair' analyses and evaluations to appreciate the place of instructional materials in the wider social and educational context, and to do so in a methodologically and analytically principled manner. I begin by comparing and contrasting the concept of 'materials use,' which underpins the contributions to this issue, with my own concept of 'materials consumption.' The bulk of the coda identifies and explores various themes emerging from this special issue, including student-generated materials, teacher and learner resistance to materials, practitioner takeaways, and the importance of content and production focused research. I compare and contrast the articles with high quality research on materials elsewhere, highlighting potentially fruitful avenues of enquiry for the next generation of studies in this rapidly growing field.