diff --git a/src/calibre/customize/builtins.py b/src/calibre/customize/builtins.py
index 98888ff818..77f6393573 100644
--- a/src/calibre/customize/builtins.py
+++ b/src/calibre/customize/builtins.py
@@ -923,6 +923,11 @@ class ActionSortBy(InterfaceActionBase):
     actual_plugin = 'calibre.gui2.actions.sort:SortByAction'
     description = _('Sort the list of books')
 
+class ActionMarkBooks(InterfaceActionBase):
+    name = 'Mark Books'
+    actual_plugin = 'calibre.gui2.actions.mark_books:MarkBooksAction'
+    description = _('Temporarily mark books')
+
 class ActionStore(InterfaceActionBase):
     name = 'Store'
     author = 'John Schember'
@@ -953,7 +958,8 @@ plugins += [ActionAdd, ActionFetchAnnotations, ActionGenerateCatalog,
         ActionSendToDevice, ActionHelp, ActionPreferences, ActionSimilarBooks,
         ActionAddToLibrary, ActionEditCollections, ActionMatchBooks, ActionChooseLibrary,
         ActionCopyToLibrary, ActionTweakEpub, ActionNextMatch, ActionStore,
-        ActionPluginUpdater, ActionPickRandom, ActionEditToC, ActionSortBy]
+        ActionPluginUpdater, ActionPickRandom, ActionEditToC, ActionSortBy,
+        ActionMarkBooks]
 
 # }}}
 
diff --git a/src/calibre/db/view.py b/src/calibre/db/view.py
index 74242fcf66..76690f440b 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/view.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/view.py
@@ -382,6 +382,12 @@ class View(object):
                 if func is not None:
                     func(old_marked_ids, cmids)
 
+    def toggle_marked_ids(self, book_ids):
+        book_ids = set(book_ids)
+        mids = set(self.marked_ids)
+        common = mids.intersection(book_ids)
+        self.set_marked_ids((mids | book_ids) - common)
+
     def refresh(self, field=None, ascending=True, clear_caches=True, do_search=True):
         self._map = tuple(sorted(self.cache.all_book_ids()))
         self._map_filtered = tuple(self._map)
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/actions/mark_books.py b/src/calibre/gui2/actions/mark_books.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8711a55ef0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/actions/mark_books.py
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+# vim:fileencoding=utf-8
+from __future__ import (unicode_literals, division, absolute_import,
+                        print_function)
+
+__license__ = 'GPL v3'
+__copyright__ = '2013, Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>'
+
+from functools import partial
+
+from PyQt4.Qt import QTimer, QApplication, Qt
+
+from calibre.gui2 import error_dialog
+from calibre.gui2.actions import InterfaceAction
+
+class MarkBooksAction(InterfaceAction):
+
+    name = 'Mark Books'
+    action_spec = (_('Mark Books'), 'marked.png', _('Temporarily mark books'), 'Ctrl+M')
+    action_type = 'current'
+    action_add_menu = True
+    dont_add_to = frozenset([
+        'toolbar-device', 'context-menu-device', 'menubar-device', 'context-menu-cover-browser'])
+    action_menu_clone_qaction = _('Toggle mark for selected books')
+
+    accepts_drops = True
+
+    def accept_enter_event(self, event, mime_data):
+        if mime_data.hasFormat("application/calibre+from_library"):
+            return True
+        return False
+
+    def accept_drag_move_event(self, event, mime_data):
+        if mime_data.hasFormat("application/calibre+from_library"):
+            return True
+        return False
+
+    def drop_event(self, event, mime_data):
+        mime = 'application/calibre+from_library'
+        if mime_data.hasFormat(mime):
+            self.dropped_ids = tuple(map(int, str(mime_data.data(mime)).split()))
+            QTimer.singleShot(1, self.do_drop)
+            return True
+        return False
+
+    def do_drop(self):
+        book_ids = self.dropped_ids
+        del self.dropped_ids
+        if book_ids:
+            self.toggle_ids(book_ids)
+
+    def genesis(self):
+        self.qaction.triggered.connect(self.toolbar_triggered)
+        self.menu = m = self.qaction.menu()
+        m.aboutToShow.connect(self.about_to_show_menu)
+        ma = partial(self.create_menu_action, m)
+        self.show_marked_action = a = ma('show-marked', _('Show marked books'), icon='search.png', shortcut='Shift+Ctrl+M')
+        a.triggered.connect(self.show_marked)
+        self.clear_marked_action = a = ma('clear-all-marked', _('Clear all marked books'), icon='clear_left.png')
+        a.triggered.connect(self.clear_all_marked)
+        m.addSeparator()
+        self.mark_author_action = a = ma('mark-author', _('Mark all books by selected author(s)'), icon='plus.png')
+        a.triggered.connect(partial(self.mark_field, 'authors', True))
+        self.mark_series_action = a = ma('mark-series', _('Mark all books in the selected series'), icon='plus.png')
+        a.triggered.connect(partial(self.mark_field, 'series', True))
+        m.addSeparator()
+        self.unmark_author_action = a = ma('unmark-author', _('Clear all books by selected author(s)'), icon='minus.png')
+        a.triggered.connect(partial(self.mark_field, 'authors', False))
+        self.unmark_series_action = a = ma('unmark-series', _('Clear all books in the selected series'), icon='minus.png')
+        a.triggered.connect(partial(self.mark_field, 'series', False))
+
+    def about_to_show_menu(self):
+        db = self.gui.current_db
+        num = len(db.data.marked_ids)
+        text = ngettext('Show marked book', 'Show marked books (%d)' % num, num)
+        self.show_marked_action.setText(text)
+
+    def location_selected(self, loc):
+        enabled = loc == 'library'
+        self.qaction.setEnabled(enabled)
+
+    def toolbar_triggered(self):
+        mods = QApplication.keyboardModifiers()
+        if mods & Qt.ControlModifier or mods & Qt.ShiftModifier:
+            self.show_marked()
+        else:
+            self.toggle_selected()
+
+    def toggle_selected(self):
+        book_ids = self._get_selected_ids()
+        if book_ids:
+            self.toggle_ids(book_ids)
+
+    def _get_selected_ids(self):
+        rows = self.gui.library_view.selectionModel().selectedRows()
+        if not rows or len(rows) == 0:
+            d = error_dialog(self.gui, _('Cannot mark'), _('No books selected'))
+            d.exec_()
+            return set([])
+        return set(map(self.gui.library_view.model().id, rows))
+
+    def toggle_ids(self, book_ids):
+        self.gui.current_db.data.toggle_marked_ids(book_ids)
+
+    def show_marked(self):
+        self.gui.search.set_search_string('marked:true')
+
+    def clear_all_marked(self):
+        self.gui.current_db.data.set_marked_ids(())
+        if unicode(self.gui.search.text()).startswith('marked:'):
+            self.gui.search.set_search_string('')
+
+    def mark_field(self, field, add):
+        book_ids = self._get_selected_ids()
+        if not book_ids:
+            return
+        db = self.gui.current_db
+        items = set()
+        for book_id in book_ids:
+            items |= set(db.new_api.field_ids_for(field, book_id))
+        book_ids = set()
+        for item_id in items:
+            book_ids |= db.new_api.books_for_field(field, item_id)
+        mids = db.data.marked_ids.copy()
+        for book_id in book_ids:
+            if add:
+                mids[book_id] = True
+            else:
+                mids.pop(book_id, None)
+        db.data.set_marked_ids(mids)
+