diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/layout.py b/src/calibre/gui2/layout.py
index aaaf1b0267..2edf19d0c4 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/layout.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/layout.py
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ __docformat__ = 'restructuredtext en'
 from functools import partial
 
 from PyQt4.Qt import QIcon, Qt, QWidget, QToolBar, QSize, \
-    pyqtSignal, QToolButton, QPushButton, \
-    QObject, QVBoxLayout, QSizePolicy, QLabel, QHBoxLayout, QActionGroup, \
-    QMenu
+    pyqtSignal, QToolButton, QMenu, QCheckBox, \
+    QObject, QVBoxLayout, QSizePolicy, QLabel, QHBoxLayout, QActionGroup
+
 
 from calibre.constants import __appname__
 from calibre.gui2.search_box import SearchBox2, SavedSearchBox
@@ -178,7 +178,9 @@ class SearchBar(QWidget): # {{{
         x.setToolTip(_("<p>Search the list of books by title, author, publisher, tags, comments, etc.<br><br>Words separated by spaces are ANDed"))
         l.addWidget(x)
 
-        self.search_button = QPushButton(_('&Go!'))
+        self.search_button = QToolButton()
+        self.search_button.setToolButtonStyle(Qt.ToolButtonTextOnly)
+        self.search_button.setText(_('&Go!'))
         l.addWidget(self.search_button)
         self.search_button.setSizePolicy(QSizePolicy.Minimum,
                 QSizePolicy.Minimum)
@@ -192,6 +194,12 @@ class SearchBar(QWidget): # {{{
         l.addWidget(x)
         x.setToolTip(_("Reset Quick Search"))
 
+        x = parent.search_highlight_only = QCheckBox()
+        x.setText(_('&Highlight'))
+        x.setToolTip(_('Highlight matched books in the book list, instead '
+            'of restricting the book list to the matches.'))
+        l.addWidget(x)
+
         x = parent.saved_search = SavedSearchBox(self)
         x.setMaximumSize(QSize(150, 16777215))
         x.setMinimumContentsLength(15)
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/library/models.py b/src/calibre/gui2/library/models.py
index 49cb1ce182..98e61acf33 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/library/models.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/library/models.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from contextlib import closing
 from operator import attrgetter
 
 from PyQt4.Qt import QAbstractTableModel, Qt, pyqtSignal, QIcon, QImage, \
-        QModelIndex, QVariant, QDate
+        QModelIndex, QVariant, QDate, QColor
 
 from calibre.gui2 import NONE, config, UNDEFINED_QDATE
 from calibre.utils.pyparsing import ParseException
@@ -93,6 +93,8 @@ class BooksModel(QAbstractTableModel): # {{{
         self.bool_no_icon = QIcon(I('list_remove.png'))
         self.bool_blank_icon = QIcon(I('blank.png'))
         self.device_connected = False
+        self.rows_matching = set()
+        self.highlight_only = False
         self.read_config()
 
     def change_alignment(self, colname, alignment):
@@ -229,9 +231,22 @@ class BooksModel(QAbstractTableModel): # {{{
             self.endInsertRows()
             self.count_changed()
 
+    def set_highlight_only(self, toWhat):
+        self.highlight_only = toWhat
+        self.research()
+
     def search(self, text, reset=True):
         try:
-            self.db.search(text)
+            if self.highlight_only:
+                self.db.search('')
+                if not text:
+                    self.rows_matching = set()
+                else:
+                    self.rows_matching = set(self.db.search(text,
+                                                            return_matches=True))
+            else:
+                self.rows_matching = set()
+                self.db.search(text)
         except ParseException as e:
             self.searched.emit(e.msg)
             return
@@ -651,6 +666,9 @@ class BooksModel(QAbstractTableModel): # {{{
             return NONE
         if role in (Qt.DisplayRole, Qt.EditRole):
             return self.column_to_dc_map[col](index.row())
+        elif role == Qt.BackgroundColorRole:
+            if self.id(index) in self.rows_matching:
+                return QColor('lightgreen')
         elif role == Qt.DecorationRole:
             if self.column_to_dc_decorator_map[col] is not None:
                 return self.column_to_dc_decorator_map[index.column()](index.row())
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/library/views.py b/src/calibre/gui2/library/views.py
index e1e9cf4456..357b48d1de 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/library/views.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/library/views.py
@@ -680,8 +680,12 @@ class BooksView(QTableView): # {{{
     def set_editable(self, editable, supports_backloading):
         self._model.set_editable(editable)
 
+    def search_proxy(self, txt):
+        self._model.search(txt)
+        self.setFocus(Qt.OtherFocusReason)
+
     def connect_to_search_box(self, sb, search_done):
-        sb.search.connect(self._model.search)
+        sb.search.connect(self.search_proxy)
         self._search_done = search_done
         self._model.searched.connect(self.search_done)
 
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/search_box.py b/src/calibre/gui2/search_box.py
index 9f74abfc86..5808a2dc46 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/search_box.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/search_box.py
@@ -375,6 +375,7 @@ class SearchBoxMixin(object): # {{{
             unicode(self.search.toolTip())))
         self.advanced_search_button.setStatusTip(self.advanced_search_button.toolTip())
         self.clear_button.setStatusTip(self.clear_button.toolTip())
+        self.search_highlight_only.stateChanged.connect(self.highlight_only_changed)
 
     def focus_search_box(self, *args):
         self.search.setFocus(Qt.OtherFocusReason)
@@ -401,6 +402,10 @@ class SearchBoxMixin(object): # {{{
     def focus_to_library(self):
         self.current_view().setFocus(Qt.OtherFocusReason)
 
+    def highlight_only_changed(self, toWhat):
+        self.current_view().model().set_highlight_only(toWhat)
+        self.focus_to_library()
+
     # }}}
 
 class SavedSearchBoxMixin(object): # {{{