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Large sparse linear systems of equations are ubiquitous in science, engineering and beyond. This open access monograph focuses on factorization algorithms for solving such systems. It presents classical techniques for complete factorizations that are used in sparse direct methods and discusses the computation of approximate direct and inverse factorizations that are key to constructing general-purpose algebraic preconditioners for iterative solvers. A unified framework is used that emphasizes the underlying sparsity structures and highlights the importance of understanding sparse direct methods when developing algebraic preconditioners. Theoretical results are complemented by sparse matrix algorithm outlines.This monograph is aimed at students of applied mathematics and scientific computing, as well as computational scientists and software developers who are interested in understanding the theory and algorithms needed to tackle sparse systems. It is assumed that the reader has completed a basic course in linear algebra and numerical mathematics.

The national bestselling author of The Sister Season shares a new novel about a woman who discovers the spirit of the season is truly in the giving....With the holidays around the corner, empty-nester Bren Epperson realizes that for the first time in decades, she has no large family to cook for, no celebration to create. So she starts teaching a holiday cooking class, and it's a hit—until Virginia Mash, the old lady upstairs, bursts in complaining. Rather than retaliate, Bren suggests that the class shower Virginia with kindness—and give her one hundred gifts. So they embark on the plan to lift a heart. Along the way, amidst the knitting and the making and the baking, they'll discover the best gifts can't be bought and family celebrations can be reborn.CONVERSATION GUIDE INCLUDED

The national bestselling author of The Sister Season shares a novel of four ordinary women at one extraordinary crossroads.... Karen, Melinda, and Joanna have never met until the morning they witness an accident outside a local diner—and rush to help. As a single mom whose sweet-faced boy has become a misguided young man, Karen immediately sets aside her own concerns and moves into action. Emergency first responder Melinda also calmly steps up to the plate, as she does every day; no one would ever suspect the insecurity that threatens her marriage to the man she loves. And blond, beautiful, bohemian Joanna is hiding—from her friends, her family, and, most important, herself. Yet she's first on the scene. The accident leaves another, mother to be, Maddie, crushed by grief. But rather than retreat, Karen, Melinda, and Joanna open their arms and hearts. During the next nine months they'll return to the diner over and over. They'll come to find Maddie. They'll end up finding themselves—learning what it means to be a mother, lover, wife, and friend. By reaching out and holding on, these four women will unite to show us life can be transformed at the most surprising moments.

Contributions by Keiko Araki, Ikaweba Bunting, Kimberly Cleveland, Amy Caldwell de Farias, Kimberli Gant, Danielle Legros Georges, Douglas W. Leonard, John Maynard, Kendahl Radcliffe, Edward L. Robinson Jr., Jennifer Scott, and Anja Werner Anywhere But Here brings together new scholarship on the cross-cultural experiences of intellectuals of African descent since the eighteenth century. The book embraces historian Paul Gilroy's prominent thesis in The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double-Consciousness and posits arguments beyond The Black Atlantic's traditional organization and symbolism. Contributions are arranged into three sections that highlight the motivations and characteristics connecting a certain set of agents, thinkers, and intellectuals: the first, Re-ordering Worldviews: Rebellious Thinkers, Poets, Writers, and Political Architects; the second, Crafting Connections: Strategic and Ideological Alliances; and the third, Cultural Mastery in Foreign Spaces: Evolving Visions of Home and Identity. These essays expand categories and suggest patterns at play that have united individuals and communities across the African diaspora. They highlight the stories of people who, from their intercultural and often marginalized positions, challenged the status quo, created strategic (and at times, unexpected) international alliances, cultivated expertise and cultural fluency abroad, as well as crafted physical and intellectual spaces for their self-expression and dignity to thrive. What, for example, connects the eighteenth-century Igbo author Olaudah Equiano with 1940s literary figure Richard Wright; nineteenth-century expatriate anthropologist Antenor Fermin with 1960s Haitian émigrés to the Congo; Japanese Pan-Asianists and Southern Hemisphere Aboriginal activists with Jamaican-born Marcus Garvey; or Angela Davis with artists of the British Black Arts Movement, Ingrid Pollard and Zarina Bhimji? They are all part of a mapping that reaches across and beyond geographical, historical, and ideological boundaries typically associated with the “Black Atlantic.” They reflect accounts of individuals and communities equally united in their will to seek out better lives, often, as the title suggests, “anywhere but here.”

Writing a new future takes a little time—and a lot of love.Jean Vison never expected to run a book club, until her life took an unexpected turn. Now, with Jean's husband gone, what began as an off-the-cuff idea has grown into a group of six women who meet the second Tuesday of every month for a potluck supper, for wine and laughter—and for books.There's Loretta, who deals with the lack of intimacy in her marriage by diving into erotic novels. Dorothy, whose ruffian sons are a never-ending source of stress. May entertains the group with her outrageous dating stories, while Mitzi finds something political to rant about in every book—including Loretta's trashy romances. Even Janet, with her mousy shyness and constant blush, has helped Jean rediscover the joy in life.So when Jean's family starts unraveling again—her daughter forced into rehab and her troubled teen granddaughter, Bailey, coming to live with her in the interim—she turns to the book club for comfort and support. And, together, they all, even Bailey, discover that family is what you make of it, especially the family you choose…

Sometimes coming home for the holidays isn't as easy as it seems….It's December 21, and the Yancey sisters have been called home. When the girls were young, holidays at their family farm meant a tinsel-garnished tree, the scent of simmering food, and laughter ringing through the house. But as the years unfolded, family bonds fractured, and the three sisters scattered and settled into separate lives. Until now. The Yancey sisters are coming to spend the holidays with their mother. They're also coming to bury their father.Claire, the youngest, a free spirit who journeyed to California, returns first. Then comes Julia, the eldest, a college professor with a teenage son of her own. And finally there's Maya, the middle child, who works so hard to be the perfect mother and wife. During the sisters'week together, old conflicts surface, new secrets emerge, and the limits and definitions of family are tested. And as the longest night of the year slips by and brightening days beckon, the sisters will have to answer one question: When you're a sister, aren't you a sister forever?CONVERSATION GUIDE INCLUDED