Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life

For anyone who's forgotten how far women have come in the last fifty years, and how far we have yet to go, Blum's memoir will awaken you to the everyday sexism of the '60s. It might make you throw the book across the room in frustration (women are too weak to climb mountains, too silly to be taken seriously as scientists or leaders, etc.) but it's a good read, especially for all my outdoorsy friends.
It's also interesting to think about all the latent sexism in outdoor gear - my first backpacking pack, a “women's model,” was still too large to fit my waist without towels padding my hipbones. I'm also very over the fixation on hiking boots, which always give me blisters :)