diff --git a/scraper/internal/server/ui.go b/scraper/internal/server/ui.go
index d1fb22f..c9f616a 100644
--- a/scraper/internal/server/ui.go
+++ b/scraper/internal/server/ui.go
@@ -1379,19 +1379,19 @@ const chapterTmpl = `
 <!-- aria-hidden keeps it out of accessibility trees / Reader Mode heuristics  -->
 <nav id="reader-header" aria-hidden="true"
      style="position:sticky;top:0;z-index:50;background:#09090b;border-bottom:1px solid #27272a;">
-  <div class="max-w-2xl mx-auto px-4 flex items-center gap-2 h-12">
+  <div class="max-w-2xl mx-auto px-4 flex items-center gap-2 h-14">
 
-    <!-- Back to book -->
+    <!-- Back to book (book/list icon, visually distinct from ← Prev) -->
     <a href="/books/{{.Slug}}"
        hx-get="/books/{{.Slug}}"
        hx-target="#main-content"
        hx-push-url="true"
        hx-swap="innerHTML"
-       title="Chapter list"
+       title="Back to chapter list"
        aria-label="Back to chapter list"
-       style="flex-shrink:0;padding:0.375rem 0.5rem;border-radius:0.5rem;color:#a1a1aa;font-size:0.875rem;text-decoration:none;transition:color 0.15s;"
+       style="flex-shrink:0;padding:0.375rem 0.5rem;border-radius:0.5rem;color:#a1a1aa;font-size:1rem;text-decoration:none;transition:color 0.15s;line-height:1;"
        onmouseover="this.style.color='#fbbf24'" onmouseout="this.style.color='#a1a1aa'">
-      &#8592;
+      &#9776;
     </a>
 
     <!-- Prev chapter -->
@@ -1416,8 +1416,11 @@ const chapterTmpl = `
             onclick="toggleChapterList()"
             title="Jump to chapter"
             aria-label="Jump to chapter"
-            style="flex:1;min-width:0;display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center;gap:0.375rem;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;border:none;cursor:pointer;padding:0.375rem 0.25rem;">
-      <span style="overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap;font-size:0.8125rem;color:#a1a1aa;">{{.Title}}</span>
+            style="flex:1;min-width:0;display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center;gap:0.375rem;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;border:none;cursor:pointer;padding:0.25rem 0.25rem;">
+      <span style="min-width:0;display:flex;flex-direction:column;align-items:center;overflow:hidden;">
+        <span style="overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap;font-size:0.8125rem;color:#a1a1aa;max-width:100%;">{{.Title}}</span>
+        {{if .ChapterDate}}<span style="font-size:0.6875rem;color:#52525b;white-space:nowrap;">{{.ChapterDate}}</span>{{end}}
+      </span>
       <span style="flex-shrink:0;font-size:0.625rem;color:#52525b;" aria-hidden="true">&#9660;</span>
     </button>
 
@@ -2166,6 +2169,7 @@ func (s *Server) handleChapter(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	prevN, nextN := adjacentChapters(chapters, n)
 
 	title := firstHeading(raw, fmt.Sprintf("Chapter %d", n))
+	chapterTitle, chapterDate := writer.SplitChapterTitle(title)
 
 	t := template.Must(template.New("chapter").Parse(chapterTmpl))
 	var buf bytes.Buffer
@@ -2176,6 +2180,7 @@ func (s *Server) handleChapter(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		NextN        int
 		ChapterN     int
 		Title        string
+		ChapterDate  string
 		AllChapters  interface{}
 		Voices       []string
 		DefaultVoice string
@@ -2185,13 +2190,14 @@ func (s *Server) handleChapter(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		PrevN:        prevN,
 		NextN:        nextN,
 		ChapterN:     n,
-		Title:        title,
+		Title:        chapterTitle,
+		ChapterDate:  chapterDate,
 		AllChapters:  chapters,
 		Voices:       kokoroVoices,
 		DefaultVoice: s.kokoroVoice,
 	})
 
-	s.respond(w, r, title, buf.String())
+	s.respond(w, r, chapterTitle, buf.String())
 }
 
 // ─── helpers ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
diff --git a/scraper/internal/writer/writer.go b/scraper/internal/writer/writer.go
index bf49b14..6beffe7 100644
--- a/scraper/internal/writer/writer.go
+++ b/scraper/internal/writer/writer.go
@@ -219,12 +219,12 @@ func chapterTitle(path string, n int) (title, date string) {
 			continue
 		}
 		line = strings.TrimPrefix(line, "# ")
-		return splitChapterTitle(line)
+		return SplitChapterTitle(line)
 	}
 	return fmt.Sprintf("Chapter %d", n), ""
 }
 
-// splitChapterTitle separates the human-readable chapter name from the
+// SplitChapterTitle separates the human-readable chapter name from the
 // trailing relative-date string that novelfire.net appends to the heading.
 // Examples of raw heading text (after stripping "# "):
 //
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ func chapterTitle(path string, n int) (title, date string) {
 //
 // The pattern is: optional leading number+whitespace, then the real title,
 // then a date that matches /\d+\s+(second|minute|hour|day|week|month|year)s?\s+ago$/
-func splitChapterTitle(raw string) (title, date string) {
+func SplitChapterTitle(raw string) (title, date string) {
 	// Strip a leading chapter-number index that novelfire sometimes prepends.
 	// It looks like "1   " or "12  " at the very start.
 	raw = strings.TrimSpace(raw)