diff --git a/src/activities/boot_sleep/SleepActivity.cpp b/src/activities/boot_sleep/SleepActivity.cpp
index 7ffc5851..39460435 100644
--- a/src/activities/boot_sleep/SleepActivity.cpp
+++ b/src/activities/boot_sleep/SleepActivity.cpp
@@ -238,7 +238,8 @@ void SleepActivity::renderCoverSleepScreen() const {
   } else if (StringUtils::checkFileExtension(APP_STATE.openEpubPath, ".epub")) {
     // Handle EPUB file
     Epub lastEpub(APP_STATE.openEpubPath, "/.crosspoint");
-    if (!lastEpub.load()) {
+    // Skip loading css since we only need metadata here
+    if (!lastEpub.load(true, true)) {
       Serial.println("[SLP] Failed to load last epub");
       return renderDefaultSleepScreen();
     }
diff --git a/src/activities/home/HomeActivity.cpp b/src/activities/home/HomeActivity.cpp
index 678af7cb..a6aa443b 100644
--- a/src/activities/home/HomeActivity.cpp
+++ b/src/activities/home/HomeActivity.cpp
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@ void HomeActivity::onEnter() {
     // If epub, try to load the metadata for title/author and cover
     if (StringUtils::checkFileExtension(lastBookTitle, ".epub")) {
       Epub epub(APP_STATE.openEpubPath, "/.crosspoint");
-      epub.load(false);
+      // Skip loading css since we only need metadata here
+      epub.load(false, true);
       if (!epub.getTitle().empty()) {
         lastBookTitle = std::string(epub.getTitle());
       }