A friend had a book to lend, a library book she thought I would finish long before its due date. She was right. I’m racing through the historical novel and will complete it in no time.

But there was another library book I could borrow, she said, one I’d never heard of: Good Things by Samin Nosrat, a cookbook. I’m not much of a cook but I took it as a sign.

The very next day, at a Georgetown bookstore, two wriggly preschoolers in tow, I spot the very same book. Not one copy, but shelves full of them. This is a very popular item, I learned. You can wait months in library holds queues for the chance to read it. Or you can pay $45 and own it yourself.

But here I am with my very own copy for more than two weeks. I’ve already begun perusing, marking, learning from this esteemed chef who encourages mastery in the kitchen, learning the basics of “salt, fat, acid, heat” (the title of her first, smash-hit book). Crunchy cabbage slaw with creamy sesame-ginger dressing anyone?

(Above, a salad made without the benefit of Good Things … but still good, if I recall.)