When I saw the awesome cover of Tommy Tighe’s new book The Catholic Hipster Handbook with JPII in shades, I knew I was going to love it.   Once I dug in, it was even better than expected – I couldn’t put it down.   The Catholic Hipster Handbook is chocked full of super cool stuff you actually want to read about, and it totally rocked.

I was super excited to be introduced to Tommy and be a guest on his Catholic Hipster Podcast recently and he was gracious enough to do an interview with me. So check it out below and find out how you can get this awesome book for a sweet price.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your work?

I am a Catholic husband and father of four boys, keeping it Catholic out in the California Bay Area. I started out simple, posting GIFs and memes on Twitter, and somehow it turned into an interstitial on Sirius XM’s The Catholic Channel, a writing gig with Angelus News, Aleteia and Catholic Mom, a sweet podcast with co-host Sarah Vabulas, and now a book with a ton of great contributors from Ave Maria Press.

What was your inspiration for both The Catholic Hipster Podcast and Handbook?

Once I got to know Sarah Vabulas online and we got to know each other, we really wanted to do a podcast together. The original idea included a priest, but when that didn’t work out we just went with it and started bringing on other Catholics to share how cool being Catholic was. As far as the The Catholic Hipster Handbook, it came from the idea that hipsters are cool. They buy local food, drink craft beer, take pride in doing things the hard way, and live a life that can best be described as counter cultural. But what if I told you there’s an even more counter cultural group than the ones wearing thick-rimmed glass at your local farmer’s market? What if I told you this group has existed for 2,000 years? What if I told you this group was called the Catholic Church?! The Catholic Hipster Handbook: Rediscovering Cool Saints, Forgotten Prayers, and Other Weird but Sacred Stuff is a journey toward reclaiming Catholic Cool, a book that shows just how awesome it is to be Catholic.

You put together an all-star team of cool Catholics to write The Catholic Hipster Handbook.   Can you drop a few names of your fabulous team and how they became part of the project?

Jeannie Gaffigan, Sister Brittany Harrison, Lisa Hendey, Arleen Spenceley, Anna Mitchell, Mary Rezac, Melissa Keating, Matt Dunn, Sarah Vabulas, Fr. Kyle Schnippel, Steven Lewis, Tiffany Walsh, Katherine Morna, Sergio Bermudez, and Leticia Ochoa Adams! And they all became a part of the project thanks to Twitter!

You share all kinds of cool Catholic stuff that people actually want to read about in The Catholic Hipster Handbook from confession, to scapulars to cool Catholic apps.   Can you give us a little sneak peak of what readers will find in your book?

You’ll find everything from the Catholic nature of Farmers Markets to the preferred Catholic footwear, to experiences in Adoration, confession, listening to Catholic radio, enjoying craft beer, having beards, taking a deeper look about Mary in the Bible, the coolest Catholic baby name ideas, and so so so much more!

You add in some pretty cool Saints in the Handbook – who was your favorite and why?

I’ll go with ST. SPYRIDON, since he was found to be incorrupt and smelling of basil when he was dug up. Basil! How cool is that?!

For all of us diaper changing, mini-van driving, soccer Moms reading this who are Catholic, but may not always be hip, will this book help us?  Any advice?

Being a Catholic Hipster has nothing to do with our culture’s concept of being hip and cool, so fear not! Being a Catholic Hipster is all about being counter cultural in today’s world by being authentically Catholic, and even soccer moms are striving to do that!

I heard Ave Maria Press is offering a pretty sweet deal so you can get copies for you AND your friends.   Can you tell us about it?

They are offering  “Buy One Get One 50%” off with code – BOGO50

It’s good through Sept. 30^th. So go get you these books ASAP!!!

Where can people find out more about your book and podcast?

Check out my website – www.catholichipster.com