diff --git a/lib/Epub/Epub.cpp b/lib/Epub/Epub.cpp
index 8d3e4ad8..0b557503 100644
--- a/lib/Epub/Epub.cpp
+++ b/lib/Epub/Epub.cpp
@@ -126,7 +126,6 @@ bool Epub::parseTocNcxFile() {
 // load in the meta data for the epub file
 bool Epub::load() {
   Serial.printf("[%lu] [EBP] Loading ePub: %s\n", millis(), filepath.c_str());
-  ZipFile zip("/sd" + filepath);
 
   std::string contentOpfFilePath;
   if (!findContentOpfFile(&contentOpfFilePath)) {
@@ -155,44 +154,20 @@ bool Epub::load() {
 }
 
 void Epub::initializeSpineItemSizes() {
-  setupCacheDir();
+  Serial.printf("[%lu] [EBP] Calculating book size\n", millis());
 
-  size_t spineItemsCount = getSpineItemsCount();
+  const size_t spineItemsCount = getSpineItemsCount();
   size_t cumSpineItemSize = 0;
-  if (SD.exists((getCachePath() + "/spine_size.bin").c_str())) {
-    File f = SD.open((getCachePath() + "/spine_size.bin").c_str());
-    uint8_t data[4];
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < spineItemsCount; i++) {
-      f.read(data, 4);
-      cumSpineItemSize = data[0] | (data[1] << 8) | (data[2] << 16) | (data[3] << 24);
-      cumulativeSpineItemSize.emplace_back(cumSpineItemSize);
-      // Serial.printf("[%lu] [EBP] Loading item %d size %u to %u %u\n", millis(),
-      //     i, cumSpineItemSize, data[1], data[0]);
-    }
-    f.close();
-  } else {
-    File f = SD.open((getCachePath() + "/spine_size.bin").c_str(), FILE_WRITE);
-    uint8_t data[4];
-    // determine size of spine items
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < spineItemsCount; i++) {
-      std::string spineItem = getSpineItem(i);
-      size_t s = 0;
-      getItemSize(spineItem, &s);
-      cumSpineItemSize += s;
-      cumulativeSpineItemSize.emplace_back(cumSpineItemSize);
+  const ZipFile zip("/sd" + filepath);
 
-      // and persist to cache
-      data[0] = cumSpineItemSize & 0xFF;
-      data[1] = (cumSpineItemSize >> 8) & 0xFF;
-      data[2] = (cumSpineItemSize >> 16) & 0xFF;
-      data[3] = (cumSpineItemSize >> 24) & 0xFF;
-      // Serial.printf("[%lu] [EBP] Persisting item %d size %u to %u %u\n", millis(),
-      //     i, cumSpineItemSize, data[1], data[0]);
-      f.write(data, 4);
-    }
-
-    f.close();
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < spineItemsCount; i++) {
+    std::string spineItem = getSpineItem(i);
+    size_t s = 0;
+    getItemSize(zip, spineItem, &s);
+    cumSpineItemSize += s;
+    cumulativeSpineItemSize.emplace_back(cumSpineItemSize);
   }
+
   Serial.printf("[%lu] [EBP] Book size: %lu\n", millis(), cumSpineItemSize);
 }
 
@@ -291,8 +266,11 @@ bool Epub::readItemContentsToStream(const std::string& itemHref, Print& out, con
 
 bool Epub::getItemSize(const std::string& itemHref, size_t* size) const {
   const ZipFile zip("/sd" + filepath);
-  const std::string path = normalisePath(itemHref);
+  return getItemSize(zip, itemHref, size);
+}
 
+bool Epub::getItemSize(const ZipFile& zip, const std::string& itemHref, size_t* size) {
+  const std::string path = normalisePath(itemHref);
   return zip.getInflatedFileSize(path.c_str(), size);
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/Epub/Epub.h b/lib/Epub/Epub.h
index f22b630c..31153035 100644
--- a/lib/Epub/Epub.h
+++ b/lib/Epub/Epub.h
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ class Epub {
   bool parseContentOpf(const std::string& contentOpfFilePath);
   bool parseTocNcxFile();
   void initializeSpineItemSizes();
+  static bool getItemSize(const ZipFile& zip, const std::string& itemHref, size_t* size);
 
  public:
   explicit Epub(std::string filepath, const std::string& cacheDir) : filepath(std::move(filepath)) {
diff --git a/lib/ZipFile/ZipFile.cpp b/lib/ZipFile/ZipFile.cpp
index 11ce2115..83b11848 100644
--- a/lib/ZipFile/ZipFile.cpp
+++ b/lib/ZipFile/ZipFile.cpp
@@ -27,31 +27,28 @@ bool inflateOneShot(const uint8_t* inputBuf, const size_t deflatedSize, uint8_t*
   return true;
 }
 
-bool ZipFile::loadFileStat(const char* filename, mz_zip_archive_file_stat* fileStat) const {
-  mz_zip_archive zipArchive = {};
-  const bool status = mz_zip_reader_init_file(&zipArchive, filePath.c_str(), 0);
+ZipFile::ZipFile(std::string filePath) : filePath(std::move(filePath)) {
+  const bool status = mz_zip_reader_init_file(&zipArchive, this->filePath.c_str(), 0);
 
   if (!status) {
-    Serial.printf("[%lu] [ZIP] mz_zip_reader_init_file() failed! Error: %s\n", millis(),
+    Serial.printf("[%lu] [ZIP] mz_zip_reader_init_file() failed for %s! Error: %s\n", millis(), this->filePath.c_str(),
                   mz_zip_get_error_string(zipArchive.m_last_error));
-    return false;
   }
+}
 
+bool ZipFile::loadFileStat(const char* filename, mz_zip_archive_file_stat* fileStat) const {
   // find the file
   mz_uint32 fileIndex = 0;
   if (!mz_zip_reader_locate_file_v2(&zipArchive, filename, nullptr, 0, &fileIndex)) {
     Serial.printf("[%lu] [ZIP] Could not find file %s\n", millis(), filename);
-    mz_zip_reader_end(&zipArchive);
     return false;
   }
 
   if (!mz_zip_reader_file_stat(&zipArchive, fileIndex, fileStat)) {
     Serial.printf("[%lu] [ZIP] mz_zip_reader_file_stat() failed! Error: %s\n", millis(),
                   mz_zip_get_error_string(zipArchive.m_last_error));
-    mz_zip_reader_end(&zipArchive);
     return false;
   }
-  mz_zip_reader_end(&zipArchive);
   return true;
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/ZipFile/ZipFile.h b/lib/ZipFile/ZipFile.h
index e452ec5e..58e3ab91 100644
--- a/lib/ZipFile/ZipFile.h
+++ b/lib/ZipFile/ZipFile.h
@@ -1,19 +1,19 @@
 #pragma once
 #include <Print.h>
 
-#include <functional>
 #include <string>
 
 #include "miniz.h"
 
 class ZipFile {
   std::string filePath;
+  mutable mz_zip_archive zipArchive = {};
   bool loadFileStat(const char* filename, mz_zip_archive_file_stat* fileStat) const;
   long getDataOffset(const mz_zip_archive_file_stat& fileStat) const;
 
  public:
-  explicit ZipFile(std::string filePath) : filePath(std::move(filePath)) {}
-  ~ZipFile() = default;
+  explicit ZipFile(std::string filePath);
+  ~ZipFile() { mz_zip_reader_end(&zipArchive); }
   bool getInflatedFileSize(const char* filename, size_t* size) const;
   uint8_t* readFileToMemory(const char* filename, size_t* size = nullptr, bool trailingNullByte = false) const;
   bool readFileToStream(const char* filename, Print& out, size_t chunkSize) const;