diff --git a/client/src/data/searchBooks.ts b/client/src/data/searchBooks.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ba79a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/src/data/searchBooks.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import type { Book } from '../types/book';
+
+export function searchBooks(books: Book[], query: string): Book[] {
+  const term = query.trim().toLowerCase();
+  if (term === '') return books; //if the seach is empty, show everything
+
+  return books.filter(
+    (book) =>
+      book.title.toLowerCase().includes(term) ||
+      book.authors.some((author) => author.toLowerCase().includes(term)),
+  );
+}
diff --git a/client/src/pages/BrowsePage/BrowsePage.tsx b/client/src/pages/BrowsePage/BrowsePage.tsx
index aa86efc..069c856 100644
--- a/client/src/pages/BrowsePage/BrowsePage.tsx
+++ b/client/src/pages/BrowsePage/BrowsePage.tsx
@@ -1,11 +1,27 @@
 import { useState } from 'react';
+import { useSearchParams } from 'react-router';
 import type { Book } from '../../types/book';
 import { BookGrid } from '../../components/BookGrid/BookGrid';
+import { EmptyState } from '../../components/EmptyState/EmptyState';
+import { LoadingState } from '../../components/LoadingState/LoadingState';
 import { mockBooks, mockShelfEntries, type ShelfEntry } from '../../data/mockBooks';
+import { searchBooks } from '../../data/searchBooks';
 import styles from './BrowsePage.module.css';
-import { LoadingState } from '../../components/LoadingState/LoadingState';
 
 export function BrowsePage() {
+  const [searchParams, setSearchParams] = useSearchParams();
+  const query = searchParams.get('q') ?? '';
+
+  function handleSearch(next: string) {
+    setSearchParams((prev) => {
+      const params = new URLSearchParams(prev);
+      if (next) params.set('q', next);
+      else params.delete('q'); //empty search = clean URL
+      return params;
+    });
+  }
+  //shelf
+
   const [shelf, setShelf] = useState<Map<Book['id'], ShelfEntry>>(
     () => new Map(mockShelfEntries.map((entry) => [entry.bookId, entry])),
   );
@@ -22,21 +38,41 @@ export function BrowsePage() {
     });
   }
 
-  const books = mockBooks;
-
+  //temporary: search the mock data, replaced by the apollo query
+  const books = searchBooks(mockBooks, query);
   // ===== TEMPORARY: fake loading state, replace with the query's `loading` =====
   const isLoading = false;
+  const noResults = !isLoading && query !== '' && books.length === 0;
 
   return (
     <section className={styles.page} aria-labelledby="browse-heading">
       <header className={styles.header}>
         <h1 id="browse-heading" className={styles.heading}>
-          browse
+          Browse
         </h1>
-        <p className={styles.count}> {books.length} books</p>
+        <p className={styles.count} aria-live="polite">
+          {resultLabel(books.length, query)}
+        </p>
       </header>
+
       {isLoading && <LoadingState announceOnly />}
-      <BookGrid books={books} shelf={shelf} onToggleSaved={toggleSaved} isLoading={isLoading} />
+
+      {noResults ? (
+        <EmptyState
+          title="No books found"
+          message={`Nothing matches "${query}". Try another title or author.`}
+          action={{ label: 'Clear search', onClick: () => handleSearch('') }}
+        />
+      ) : (
+        <BookGrid books={books} shelf={shelf} onToggleSaved={toggleSaved} isLoading={isLoading} />
+      )}
     </section>
   );
 }
+
+//resultLabel: the count next to the heading
+function resultLabel(count: number, query: string) {
+  if (!query) return count === 1 ? '1book' : `${count} books`;
+  const results = count === 1 ? 'result' : 'results';
+  return `Searchword: "${query}" gave ${count} ${results}`;
+}