Welcome!
The Darkroom Cookbook is basically about making your own chemicals. You might want to start with bought chemicals instead, until you get the hang of the process. I would look for a more basic darkroom book - I think Kodak published one in the past. The Ilford site I think also has the basic methodology. There are lots of people here who know much more than I do who I'm sure will chime in with some more concrete suggestions. Looking around used bookstores for a basic darkroom manual would be a good place to start, or the library.
In any case, the basics of darkroom work aren't hard or complicated, but after the basics it's a never-ending learning curve - for me anyway.