diff --git a/src/calibre/library/caches.py b/src/calibre/library/caches.py
index 823ef77bc5..6a3f591450 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/caches.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/caches.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ __copyright__ = '2010, Kovid Goyal <kovid@kovidgoyal.net>'
 __docformat__ = 'restructuredtext en'
 
 import re, itertools, time, traceback
-from itertools import repeat
+from itertools import repeat, izip
 from datetime import timedelta
 from threading import Thread
 
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@ class ResultCache(SearchQueryParser): # {{{
         self.first_sort = True
         self.search_restriction = ''
         self.search_restriction_book_count = 0
+        self.marked_ids_dict = {}
         self.field_metadata = field_metadata
         self.all_search_locations = field_metadata.get_search_terms()
         SearchQueryParser.__init__(self, self.all_search_locations, optimize=True)
@@ -775,6 +776,34 @@ class ResultCache(SearchQueryParser): # {{{
     def get_search_restriction_book_count(self):
         return self.search_restriction_book_count
 
+    def set_marked_ids(self, id_dict):
+        '''
+        ids in id_dict are "marked". They can be searched for by
+        using the search term ``marked:true``
+
+        :param id_dict: Either a dictionary mapping ids to values or a sequence
+        of ids. In the latter case, the value is set to 'true' for all ids. If
+        a mapping is provided, then the search can be used to search for
+        particular values: ``marked:value``
+        '''
+        if not hasattr(id_dict, 'items'):
+            # Simple list. Make it a dict of string 'true'
+            self.marked_ids_dict = dict(izip(id_dict, repeat(u'true',
+                len(id_dict))))
+        else:
+            self.marked_ids_dict = dict(**id_dict)
+            # Ensure that all the items in the dict are text
+            for id_,val in self.marked_ids_dict.iteritems():
+                self.marked_ids_dict[id_] = unicode(val)
+
+        # Set the values in the cache
+        marked_col = self.FIELD_MAP['marked']
+        for id_,val in self.marked_ids_dict.iteritems():
+            try:
+                self._data[id_][marked_col] = val
+            except:
+                pass
+
     # }}}
 
     def remove(self, id):
@@ -824,6 +853,7 @@ class ResultCache(SearchQueryParser): # {{{
                 self._data[id] = CacheRow(db, self.composites,
                         db.conn.get('SELECT * from meta2 WHERE id=?', (id,))[0])
                 self._data[id].append(db.book_on_device_string(id))
+                self._data[id].append(self.marked_ids_dict.get(id, None))
             except IndexError:
                 return None
         try:
@@ -840,6 +870,7 @@ class ResultCache(SearchQueryParser): # {{{
             self._data[id] = CacheRow(db, self.composites,
                         db.conn.get('SELECT * from meta2 WHERE id=?', (id,))[0])
             self._data[id].append(db.book_on_device_string(id))
+            self._data[id].append(self.marked_ids_dict.get(id, None))
         self._map[0:0] = ids
         self._map_filtered[0:0] = ids
 
@@ -864,6 +895,15 @@ class ResultCache(SearchQueryParser): # {{{
         for item in self._data:
             if item is not None:
                 item.append(db.book_on_device_string(item[0]))
+                item.append(None)
+
+        marked_col = self.FIELD_MAP['marked']
+        for id_,val in self.marked_ids_dict.iteritems():
+            try:
+                self._data[id_][marked_col] = val
+            except:
+                pass
+
         self._map = [i[0] for i in self._data if i is not None]
         if field is not None:
             self.sort(field, ascending)
diff --git a/src/calibre/library/database2.py b/src/calibre/library/database2.py
index 3b712e1c10..b506e7e82d 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/database2.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/database2.py
@@ -374,6 +374,8 @@ class LibraryDatabase2(LibraryDatabase, SchemaUpgrade, CustomColumns):
 
         self.FIELD_MAP['ondevice'] = base = base+1
         self.field_metadata.set_field_record_index('ondevice', base, prefer_custom=False)
+        self.FIELD_MAP['marked'] = base = base+1
+        self.field_metadata.set_field_record_index('marked', base, prefer_custom=False)
 
         script = '''
         DROP VIEW IF EXISTS meta2;
@@ -421,6 +423,7 @@ class LibraryDatabase2(LibraryDatabase, SchemaUpgrade, CustomColumns):
         self.row     = self.data.row
         self.has_id  = self.data.has_id
         self.count   = self.data.count
+        self.set_marked_ids = self.data.set_marked_ids
 
         for prop in (
                 'author_sort', 'authors', 'comment', 'comments',
diff --git a/src/calibre/library/field_metadata.py b/src/calibre/library/field_metadata.py
index ff38af6890..b8180f9f39 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/field_metadata.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/field_metadata.py
@@ -273,6 +273,16 @@ class FieldMetadata(dict):
                            'is_custom':False,
                            'is_category':False,
                            'is_csp': False}),
+            ('marked',    {'table':None,
+                           'column':None,
+                           'datatype':'text',
+                           'is_multiple':None,
+                           'kind':'field',
+                           'name': None,
+                           'search_terms':['marked'],
+                           'is_custom':False,
+                           'is_category':False,
+                           'is_csp': False}),
             ('series_index',{'table':None,
                              'column':None,
                              'datatype':'float',