Post-apocalyptic protagonist cuts book in half, hides in septic tank

[Lynn]

Post-apocalyptic, published maybe about late 90s, early 2000s, male protagonist, I think a teacher who lives on U.S. East coast; due to his knowledge, saw the SHTF coming; found a sustainable, defensible place out in the country; quits his job; moves to the place & teaches himself all the survival skills; tries to convince female relative (sister? grown daughter?) who has 2 kids & lives in the Midwest maybe to bring the kids & move in with him; she waits too long; the S does HTF; so now he's gotta try to go get her & the kids & bring them back to his safe place; he has a book that he learned all his survival skills from; cuts it in half horizontally; seals 1/2 up & hides in his septic tank; seals other half up and wears it hidden on his person; figures if while travelling somebody threatens him, he'll show 'em the 1/2 half of the book he's wearing & say if they let him live, he'll take 'em back to his place & show 'em where the other half of the book is.

Somebody told me that Larry Niven wrote a book about hiding books in a septic tank; but I don't think it was him since I'm not a Niven fan & I really liked this book.

Thanks for any help.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

SHTF?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

I rewrote your topic header with full words; it's always helpful to have full words rather than abbreviations in case you or anyone else might need to search for this thread in the future using the search box.

[Lynn]

Thanks for the rewrite, Lobstergirl; abbreviated because I was afraid space was an issue.

SHTF: Sh*t Hits the Fan; it's a term that Post-Apocalyptic fiction fans use a lot; sorry, just used to using it a lot in discussions.

Oh, and I did post this over in the Apocalypse Whenever group already, but no one knew which book it was.

Thanks.

[Andy Phillips]

Could this be Lucifer's Hammer? I'm pretty sure I've read this book, and I think this is the one. I remember the bit about hiding text books in a septic tank as they contain valuable knowledge.

I know you said it probably isn't Larry Niven, so if that's not it then maybe try looking through my bookshelves and see if anything looks familiar.

[Lynn]

Thanks, Andy!

[Rosa]

Is that the one?

[Lynn]

No, that wasn't the one. Haven't had a chance yet to check out Andy's list; it may well be on there.

[Dragondrool]

I'm positive it's Lucifer's Hammer, which I recently read.

[Lynn]

No, I don't think so; I just read the study guide for L. Hammer and it doesn't sound at all like the book I read. Well, I'll keep searching; may get lucky yet ;-)

[Rosa]

Dragondrool, does the protagonist cut a book in half and hide in a septic tank?

[Peter]

A character in Lucifer’s Hammer hides many useful books in a septic tank because he is old and has diabetes and knows he’s going to die without a steady supply of insulin. If the OP’s details are correct he’s not looking for LH, which takes place mainly on the west coast and does not involve one man looking for a relative. I would not be surprised if the author of the OP’s book got the idea from LH, which is very popular.

[Lynn]

You could be right, Peter; that makes sense since I'm pretty sure the book I'm looking for came out after Luc. Hammer.

Annnd, I've decided not I'm just gonna have to read Luc. Hammer now, lol.