How do I become good at cooking?

[Aspiringcook]

I can cook basic stuff but I always find that flavour is a bit meh. Never cook anything mind blowingly tasty. Is there any hope for me or do some people just “have it” and are naturally more skilled?
Any recipe booka to recommend? I particularly like vegetarian recipes although I do occasionally eat meat and fish.
I find that this (as well as living in a small home) sometimes stops me from wanting to host people as I get quite stressed if I have to cook for many.
Would love to improve as I genuinely enjoy food and pottering around the kitchen

I would say to talk about food with people. If you are at a friend’s house, and you like the meal, ask about the ingredients. Ask other people what’s their favourite recipe, what they put in their spaghetti bol ( I m always surprised by the variations ) Ask people what’s their favourite curry and how do they make it.
I’ve found it helps to cook onions really slowly, and to fry spices at the start of cooking. Add more than you think you shoukd( except chilli, obviously) and not more than a small tsp of ginger to avoid bitterness. Otherwise, trial and error. Try the same recipe several times, making notes of what you put in, and how much. Keep tasting and tweaking. Remember dried herbs go in at the start of cooking, and fresh herbs ( in bigger quantities) towards the end. But mainly, taste and tweak continuously.

My granddaughter looks up recipes of food she likes on the internet and produces great stuff

Lots of great tips here but as an aside consider watching Julie and Julia (or - better - reading the book of the same name by Julia Powell).

Lots of practice. I am by no means a great cook but I have improved by just giving a recipe a go if I have tasted a new dish someone has made or I have eaten in a restaurant. Eventually you will have the confidence to add a little bit of this and that to spice up a dish. Use up your store cupboard ingredients by googling that random item you have lurking. Confidence is the key.

A lot of it is practise and trial and error. You need to feel confident in your own judgement, rather than following recipes to the letter. My DH follows recipes exactly, and they are often bland, whereas I use recipes as templates. Fry the chicken for 7 mins on a medium heat? No! Cook it until it’s browned at a heat that means the outside gets browned but the inside remains tender. 2 cloves of garlic? No! Smell the garlic and work out if they are mild or strong cloves and add more or less depending on that.

But you will only work these things out through trial and error. Cook consistently like this for a few months and you will make better food.

I agree with others that it is worth getting a couple of really good cook books which have recipes for things you like and know what they should taste like. But then use that as a template and work things out according to your own taste and ingredients.