Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

If it is strictly for your own use, I don't see any copyright violation.

This is not my area of expertise, and Mr. Whipple could very well be right. I was just wondering if it may be some type of violation because you are paying for the recording.

Technically, no. Only a copyright owner has the right to make and distribute copies--in whatever medium--of their work.

However, as a practical matter, you are entitled to use the copy you own. So, you could have someone read your book to you (as parents have read to their children for centuries) and record that reading for your own future use, but you couldn't make copies for anyone else or loan your recording to others.